Newmarket Residents Are Allowed Only One Colour of Paint

I have seen another social media account poking fun at the Era for publishing a story about a woman painting her fence.  On the surface, it may be appropriate to mock the paper if this is the kind of news that the Era considers worthy of its front page.

But from the stories I've heard over the past 12-months from readers who contact me, maybe it is about time that we start paying attention to the Town of Newmarket bylaw enforcement.

Not a week goes by when I am not contacted by someone having difficulty with how bylaws are being enforced.  The types of complaints may vary from height of a pergola being added to an existing backyard deck; to a dispute over a new fence; to property standards not being met.  What is the common theme in each complaint I hear about is as follows:

1) The bylaw officer doesn't enforce the bylaw consistently and according to the written bylaw
2) No communication from the bylaws officer after initial contact is made
3) No attempt is made to find a common sense solution

In short, the bylaw officer gets involved resulting in neighbours getting angry with neighbours, and then the bylaw officer leaves the scene so that anger can fester.

Over two years ago, someone complained about spray paint vandalism on Ms. Bujko's Manning Crescent fence.  Weeks ago, the bylaw officer contacted Mrs. Bujko and informed her that she had to remove the vandalism.  Mrs. Bujko decided to paint over the vandalism using periwinkle and magenta paints.

Despite no one complaining about Mrs. Bujko's colour scheme, the bylaw officer went back to Mrs. Bujko and demanded that she only use one colour on her fence.  Mrs. Bujko will have to choose only periwinkle or magenta but she can't have both.

Whether you agree with Mrs. Bujko's colour scheme is not the point.  Its about basic property rights.  She owns her fence and her paint job is not bothering anyone except for the Town of Newmarket's bylaw officer.  Surely this bylaw officer has bigger fish to fry?

Why did this small problem need to escalate to the point of being front page news?  The answer is not as pretty as Mrs. Bujko's periwinkle/ magenta fence.  This problem escalated because senior management at the Town of Newmarket and/ or our elected officials let things get out of hand.  Its a symptom of a failing management team at the Town of Newmarket.

That's why this story is front page news.  Overzealous bylaw enforcement highlights for all residents to see exactly how our tax dollars are being wasted.