SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
JUNE 29, 1995
POLICY REPORT
ENVIRONMENT
Date: May 29, 1995
File #: CC1895
TO: Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM: Director of Environmental Health
SUBJECT: Noise By-law Amendment - Refuse Collection
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Section 19 of the Noise By-law be amended to remove the
exemption for refuse containers less than 1 cubic yard and
replace it with a wording that makes the restrictions
contained in Section 19 apply only to "mechanically assisted"
emptying of refuse containers.
B. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to bring
forward the necessary by-law amendment.
MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager, Community Services notes that the
recommendations of the Director of Environmental Health are
necessary to plug a loophole in the current Noise By-law, and
therefore RECOMMENDS approval of A and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
Noise By-law #6555, as amended from time to time, sets controls and
limits on the generation of noise within the City.
PURPOSE
This report proposes an amendment to the Noise By-law #6555 to respond
to a challenge by legal counsel for one of the private refuse collection
companies. The challenge has effectively brought enforcement of the
affected section to a halt.
BACKGROUND
Section 19 of the Noise By-law restricts the collection of refuse from
commercial bins located adjacent to residential premises to the hours
between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays. Different hours are provided for in the "downtown
core" - 6 a.m. to midnight weekdays and 10 a.m to midnight Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays. When the by-law was amended in 1990 the section
was written to apply only to emptying of a "bulk refuse container of a
capacity of 1 cubic yard or greater". It was felt, at the time, that it
would not be necessary to have the restriction apply to emptying of
smaller, residential type containers, since these usually involved less
noisy collection equipment and activities which could take place outside
of the restricted period with little or no disturbance of the public.
The City, through the By-law Prosecutor's office, has had considerable
success in prosecuting a number of the private contractors for repeat
infractions of Section 19. Repeat offenders have been warned that
continued infractions would leave staff no alternative but to refer the
matter to Council for Show Cause Hearings.
It has been contended by legal counsel for one of the companies that
Section 19 of the Noise By-law is discriminatory and that the Charter
does not provide the City with the power to discriminate in these
matters. The Director of Legal Services advised the Director of
Environmental Health that this challenge had some possibility of success
and recommended that the by-law be amended to address this issue prior
to any further charges being processed.
In the interim the number of complaints about early morning refuse
collection have increased considerably. It would appear that the refuse
collection industry is ignoring the by-law restrictions at will,
creating disturbances as early as 5 a.m. in some residential lanes.
DISCUSSION
The simplest solution to this problem is to delete the reference to "of
a capacity of 1 cubic yard or greater", effectively making the section
apply to any collection of refuse from a bulk refuse container.
Unfortunately this would also have the effect of technically applying to
all refuse collection activities, including residential service, small
container commercial service and the emptying of sidewalk receptacles by
the City. Some of the latter work is currently done in the early
morning hours to avoid normal daytime traffic and parking and to obtain
maximum efficiency from the collection crew. Historically staff have
not received noise complaints associated with these collection
activities. This may be due, in part, to the fact that the equipment
used does not hydraulically raise and empty large bins and in part to
the fact that some of the activity takes place on streets rather than
lanes, and at some distance from residential uses.
The intent of Section 19 is to protect the residential areas from the
intrusive noise of large dumpsters navigating neighbouring lanes and
hydraulically raising and lowering the large commercial bins with all
the associated noises. The chances that complaints will be generated
from the smaller collection activities is felt to be remote.
Operationally the chance of complaints can be reduced further by
ensuring that the cycling of compaction equipment on the trucks occurs
away from residential buildings (e.g. on main streets rather than in
lanes).
Private contractors have often alleged that there is preferential
treatment provided to the City collection service creating an uneven
playing field in the servicing of commercial contracts. Staff note that
the Noise By-law provisions with respect to the emptying of commercial
containers are applied fairly and equitably to both private and City
servicing of commercial bins. With respect to the two services
mentioned in the previous section (sidewalk receptacles and small
container commercial accounts) the private contractors have shown no
desire to enter this specialized market.
Other options considered by staff included changing the definition of
"bulk refuse container" within the by-law as being a container larger
than 1 cubic yard, or having Council deem the noise produced when
emptying these containers outside of the permitted hours as being
objectionable. Neither of these are as clean as the first option and
would likely still be subject to legal challenge.
Therefore, the Director of Environmental Health, in consultation with
the Director of Legal Services and the City Engineer, recommends that
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Section 19 be amended by striking out the reference to "of a capacity of
1 cubic yard or greater" and replacing it with wording that makes the
provision apply only to the "mechanically assisted" emptying of bulk
refuse containers.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
The only significant environmental impact anticipated is a slight
improvement in the early morning "soundscape" in residential areas.
There is a remote chance that revised emptying schedules may lead to
more overflowing or illegally dumped garbage in lanes. This will have
to be managed through enforcement and fine tuning of schedules.
SOCIAL IMPACTS/IMPACTS ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Hopefully, resumption of enforcement of the amended by-law will allow
residents the protection from disturbance intended by Council when this
section was first inserted into the by-law.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Plugging the loophole may generate more prosecutions and minor increases
in fine revenue. No significant cost increases are anticipated in the
City's refuse collection activities.
CONCLUSION
Staff have provided Council with a method to correct a deficiency in the
Noise By-law with respect to noise generated from the emptying of
commercial bulk refuse containers. The proposed solution may have some
minor operational impacts on the Engineering Department's collection of
refuse from small garbage containers. In the end, Council will have to
strike a balance between the potential of some extra inconvenience and
minor cost increases associated with City refuse collection versus
living with a Noise By-law provision that cannot be enforced. Staff
recommend that this balance come down on the side of reducing noise
impacts in residential areas.
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