Changes to Safe Properties Bylaw Spark a Major Reaction from CF Residents

Jeff Green | Jan 22, 2025

As part of a process of updating a number of township bylaws, at its meeting last week (Tuesday, January 14th), Central Frontenac Council received an updated draft version of the Safe Properties Bylaw that has been in place in its current form since 2013.

A new property standards bylaw was first presented to Council on November 26, 2024.

It is a comprehensive overhaul of the current bylaw, which was adopted in 2013.

The draft bylaw includes 23 provisions, whereas the existing one only has 6. In some cases, the new provisions are extensions or clarifications of the existing provisions.

For example, while the existing bylaw permits “wood that has been cut and stored for use in a stove … ”, the new one is more prescriptive about how that would must be stored “firewood shall be piled safely and neatly in the rear yard only,”.
There are also several entirely new categories of materials in the new bylaw that are not mentioned at all in the bylaw that is currently in effect
The new bylaw includes regulations dealing with the size and materials used in compost heaps or bins, and includes a regulation that “yards shall be kept clear of long grass, brush and undergrowth by cutting regularly and removing the cuttings.”

The new bylaw regulates the upkeep of lawns, hedges and shrubs, and there is a brand new provision regulating outdoor furniture.
“All furniture used for exterior use shall be made of exterior-grade material that readily repels water. Lands shall be kept clean and free from wrecked, discarded, dismantled, or inoperative recreation equipment and furniture.”
The existingt bylaw makes no reference at all to grass, compost, or furniture.

When the bylaw came before Council on November 26, 2024, it sparked a lively debate.

Councillor Lynn Klages said the new bylaw is “a huge change from where we are now and I see the benefit of some of the things but a lot of things that are on the list seem more urban based and I think it should be more rural based for our area.”

Councillor Nicki Gowdy said that some of the definitions in the bylaw “are too broad” and councillor Phillip Smith said “I want to be very careful that we’re not over-reaching on property owner rights, but at the same time, protecting neighbours.

“I know it’s a very fine balance but my biggest concern is infringing on property rights.”

At that November meeting, Councillor Duncan McGregor put forward a motion, following a suggestion from Lynne Klages, to form an ad hoc committee including council members and staff, be struck to consider this, and other new bylaws, before they come to Council.

“I think it would be more efficient, in terms of time, if we did that,” he said.
Mayor Frances Smith disagreed.

“Can I suggest to you, though, that this is a staff job, not Council's job. Staff bring the reports, if you don't like what's in the report, they go back and do it again.”

When McGregor’s motion to establish an ad hoc bylaw committee came to a vote, Mayor Smith's view prevailed, barely, in a 5-4 vote.
At the meeting in November and at the meeting last week, the township’s bylaw officer, Nicole Shorts, addressed Council. She has developed the new bylaw and will be charged with implementing it on the ground once it is approved. She described how the bylaw was developed and how she plans to implement it.
She said that the bylaw gives her broad discretion to ignore minor contraventions, while providing her with the tools she needs to keep property owners, their neighbours and emergency services personnel, safe from avoidable hazards.
As an example, she said that she is not going to make an order because one property owner who keeps their lawn cut to a 1 inch length does not want their neighbours lawn to be 3 inches long.

“It’s about safety. If the grass is so long in front of the house that it is a tick hazard and is also hiding stuff on the ground making it a risk to walk through for emergency services, then it becomes a problem, and I will order it cut in those sorts of cases.”

The provisions for removal of brush and fallen trees are similar, according to Shorts.

She said she is only worried about hedges that are blocking sidewalks, broken tree limbs that are hanging over roadways, not about fallen branches in the woods on large rural acreages.
“I'm there to work with people to make their property, and the township, safer,” she said.

She said that when she orders a property to be remediated, it is generally a 30 day order.
“If someone makes an effort, but there are a couple of items they have not addressed, I'm going to grant an extension, but if they do nothing for 30 days, and then ask for an extension, I'm not going to.”
She has been working for the township since last summer, and she told council about some extreme cases she has already seen, where some of the proposed provisions in the bylaw are necessary to alleviate risks to residents and potential liability to the township.

The updated draft bylaw that came back to Council last week includes a number of revisions from the draft that was presented in November, mainly aimed at clarifying its application.

For example, while firewood still must be “piled safely and neatly” it no longer needs to be in the “rear yard only.”

The new draft was discussed briefly at the January 14th meeting, and staff proposed that any further proposed changes to the bylaw be communicated by Council members to them by Friday, January 17. The final version of the bylaw is tentatively scheduled to come to Council for final approval at their next meeting, on January 28th.

Councillors Nicki Gowdy and Duncan McGregor, who was attending the meeting via Zoom, both said that the public should be notified and provided with an opportunity to respond to the proposed changes before the amended bylaw came back for approval, and staff was directed to post a notice on the township's website, with a link to the new bylaw, with the proposed changes from the November 26 draft version, marked in red ink.

At last week’s meeting, Gowdy mentioned that the notice should also be posted on the township's social media platforms.

Gowdy then posted a notice on her own Facebook sit,, which she shares with the “What's Happening Godfrey” group.

The post has led to many comments opposing the bylaw, saying it may be appropriate in an urban environment, but not in Central Frontenac.

It also led to a number of responses directly to the township.

Gowdy, who is at the Rural Ontario Municipal Roads Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto this week, said that the post was appropriate given that it did not differ from what was posted on the official township website.
“I was trying to notify the public,” she said.

In response to the post, a group of Central Frontenac residents have signed on to an online petition calling on Central Frontenac Council to refuse to pass the proposed “Safe Properties Bylaw” that is currently undergoing final revisions.
The petition is posted at Change.org by Central Frontenac resident Krista Peters.

The change.org post reads:
Central Frontenac Township is putting a motion forward to pass Safe Property Bylaw. The purpose of this petition is to have all signatures in one place to present to council. Anyone who is AGAINST this bylaw moving forward can add their signature. You can find a copy of proposed bylaw at the following link. Council is voting on this Jan 28 2025 at 6pm so we need signatures quickly!
The Change.org petition went up on January 18th. It had a target of 500 signatures. By early Wednesday morning, January 21, it had been signed by 525 people.