Sidewalk clearing
Couple to pay bill after being threatened with tax sale
GUYSBOROUGH - John and Rona McQuillan are going to pay up, reluctantly. After fighting the Municipality of Guysborough's sidewalk-clearing bylaw for the past five years, the residents of Main Street in Guysborough say they will pay $400 on a municipal bill for snow clearing and fines so their home won't be put up for tax sale.
A bylaw implemented five years ago requires landowners abutting sidewalks in the village of Guysborough to clear the walks in front of their property after a snowfall. The McQuillans have been protesting the bylaw by not clearing the sidewalk in front of their home. As a result, the municipality clears that area after a certain amount of time following a snowfall, and bills the McQuillans for that service. The landowners have also been fined for failing to clear the snow themselves. Over the years, those fees have added up.
Rona McQuillan says the charge for clearing snow once could be up to $75, plus a $100 fine. As of Jan. 31, the couple owed the municipality $765 because of their refusal to clear the sidewalk. They say the municipality is charging them 18 per cent interest on that amount.
During an interview at their home on Tuesday, the McQuillans said they recently received a notice from the municipality saying if they didn't pay at least $400 by this coming Friday, the municipality would take the first steps towards putting their property up for tax sale. As a result, the McQuillans say they will pay.
"But we fully expect to claim that money back in Small Claims Court," says John McQuillan.
The McQuillans say the main reason they object to the bylaw is that they think some people have great difficulty abiding by it because of physical and/or financial challenges. They say it's a matter of principle. Secondly, they say the municipality already owns the equipment and has the human resources needed to clear the sidewalks in Guysborough.
The couple says the Guysborough bylaw is the "toughest of its kind in Nova Scotia," requiring snow to be cleared from abutting sidewalks within four hours of the end of a storm or at daybreak. Rona says a lot of people in the area work outside of the community and would have difficulty meeting that schedule.
"If snow should finish falling at 10 a.m., that means those people who work outside the community would have to be back by 2 p.m. to clear snow."
The McQuillans say they came to Guysborough 12 years ago because they wanted to live in a small community where they could get to know people, yet have the amenities they need. But now they say their battle with the municipality has taken a toll and they're not certain they'll stay.
"We would love to stay here, but we're not treated the same as everyone else," says Rona.
Guysborough CAO Dan MacDougall said council had been open to looking at a change in the bylaw in the past, as it conducted a plebiscite a couple of years ago to gauge interest in charging an area rate to cover the cost of the snow removal, instead of requiring abutting landowners to look after it. The results showed that residents were not in favour of the change.
MacDougall noted that the municipality agreed to pay 100 per cent of the capital costs in installing the sidewalks, which amounted to $500,000. He also said the municipality has allowed ample time, often days, between snowfalls and the time when a notice is issued and the sidewalk is cleared by municipal staff, if the landowner has not done so.
