City infill enforcement team reports enormous increase in number of complaints
235% spike from same time in 2016 comes down to awareness, officer says
A surge of infill-related complaints is actually good news, says a new team charged with making sure homebuilders in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods follow the rules.
The team received 820 complaints last year, and made another 800 followup and proactive visits. The number of complaints taken during peak building season was a 235-per-cent increase over the same time in 2016.
Those complaints resulted in more than 900 warnings, tickets and stop-work orders, in addition to referrals to provincial workplace health and safety teams and Edmonton drainage inspections.
“It’s really about branding. They know we’re around,” said peace officer Kevin Tomalty, one of three officers and bylaw officials assigned to the team. “Our truck is branded ‘infill enforcement.’”
Edmonton’s infill team released last year’s numbers Thursday as part of an annual report to city council. The update goes to council’s urban planning committee for debate Tuesday.
City officials formed the team in 2016 after years of neighbourhood complaints. Nearby residents said fly-by-night contractors were leaving large piles of unprotected dirt, unfenced holes and foundations, mud and debris off-site, and that unsafe construction practices damaged neighbouring properties.
It appears those fly-by-night concerns were justified. Included in the violations were 35 tickets for operating without a business licence and 20 warnings.
“I’m not sure what to make of it,” said Ward 1 Coun. Andrew Knack, shocked by those numbers. “Were people getting away with it before? That’s a large number.”
But that’s why council approved this team, he said. Residents had made their concerns very clear.
City officials said they’re also working to educate builders to achieve compliance. They wrote a residential construction best practices guide and are distributing it to builders.
Lyla Peter, director of development and zoning services, said the most common infractions were related to traffic. Builders must have a permit to obstruct the roadway, store building materials on the street or boulevard, or cross a sidewalk or boulevard with machinery.
Operating without permits earns fines of $50 to $250, which double for repeat offences.
Tomalty said a permit is important because that forces builders to plan where they are going to store material, which leads to neat and efficient work sites. Permits for crossing the boulevard ensure builders take proper measures to protect the trees.
The team’s enforcement included nine stop-work orders for zoning-related offences, where builders started construction without a permit or didn’t build what they said they would. That includes homes built too tall.