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WATERKX) cummcua . Wednesday. luly zit zero - a u mu m ow mm ANDY WAT-on - “mm” $57,311.» ~J. M ' ‘ Area is IlOt considered park say S City ‘ Continued from pap l i _ ’ That doesn't wash with the plain-spoken ; , flif'm Strickler. " L ,. g; ' . .’- "is? $34 On one side of the fence is the unkempt r J _. ‘. L" ' ‘. "P fix“ r . park, while on the other side is the perfectly ‘ twig L“) flag" manicured field and sports fields and ' “MJ” - _ ja- .. a. , Sandowne Public School. A}? "f . ' “Their excuse is that this is a naturalizaâ€" 1 ~' tion area.“ said Strickler. “Excuse me â€" can i , 1: ' claim that my backyard is a naturalization “1"? ~- “A“ area and not be penalized under the properâ€" _ if; . .- _ ty standards bylaw? : ’ ‘ 1z 5 "This park runs zero feet from a residen- 4 ._ . .- i t ":* ”V“ $57 _ '~ -1 J “ rial building. Yes, zero feet. The city owns the , . fi‘ *'f*" w 3" .. ;.~ “£23... ~ ‘ --'~ parkland right up to the end wall of the ' ,, ; ‘"" ' {our f“? ‘ .__“ townhouse abutting it. Certainly the city . «1 iâ€" g .. ‘ " ‘ , ~ should be required to properly maintain a . ,'- I“ . 1- u property that runs this close to a residence. “ A“, one. "" ‘ . ,- , , as" l ‘ naturalization area or not." . ‘ ‘ »~.-~~.~- - , ' “7" 41 A 1 Especially when he knows the city has . spent thousands of dollars on the new _ 3?" N ., a " retaining wall and doesn’t do any upkeep. ’ g , -: a * " 4 His neighbour even offered to buy the lawn. : l . - 1T , . . . . which was denied, and has since mowed ,.¢ . 3 ”fall? The (am has remoyied rr'3'?'afl't' from the - down a strip along his property to at least if? 15:31” ‘p' 'g\ soon we 5 he" nco n ' age. provideabufier. 57.-‘L “gigs.- ‘ - “Our' succession planning is that it “The last time i called they came to clean ‘r' 5 a é *' _ becomes a nice woodlot over a number of up the cul-de-sac but they totally ignored a; ' . . 1 years." said Dykstra. “So we won't be touch- back here." said Strickler. " ing up those features. Mark Dykstra, the city's director of parks, "Whether it was the terrain that initially said that the city was unaware of the racist limited its usefulness per se, so it's more ofa grafiiti and that it has been removed. natural area" As for lot maintenance of the rest of the That is‘little comfort for Strickler and his park. he said it is a link park that fits into the neighbours. He said he‘s tempted to contact city's policy of having it as a naturalization the judges of Communities in Bloom who area. gave the city its national award and show “It’s not in our classification as a nei - . . . . them the true side ofWaterioo. bourhood park or a community park." silhd Weeds and 9mm? adorn a park near “MOI" Village. _ _ m my“ “it's seems all the main public places are Dykstra. “It's an environmental link, that’s The property isn‘t considered remnant meant ‘0 be left as lS- Wllh lots Of natural kept up really nice," said Strickler. “But all what we refer to it as." and there are "0 plans (0 59“ it- he said. W5 regeneration going on. the parks where people live are not.” New graffiti bylaw gives city more power in dealing with vandalism BYGIIBG MACDONALD associated with graffiti removal, said Jim caught, ltremalns the responsibility ofpropâ€" City councillors applauded the new Chfoflide Staff Barry. director of bylaw for the municipality. erty owners to remove the graffiti. bylaw and hoped it would help quiet some f Under the old rules. city staff had to wait If the graffiti isn't taken down within the of the graffiti concems the city has been fac- ' he City of Waterloo has passed a new 14 days after notice was given to offenders requested amount of time, the city will ing. I bylaw that will make it easier to get until graffiti could beremoved. remove it and the property owner will be Ooun. Diane Freeman has seen problems graffiti taken down and give police Now, bylaw officers can demand that the charged with fences getting tagged in Eastbridge, new options when charging offenders. graffiti be taken down in a “reasonable “it doesn't impact the outcome, but it while Coun. Jan d'Ailly worried about cable Councillors approved Monday the new amount of time." Barry said. does allow us to be more effective,” Barry and phone boxes being vandalized. set of rules, which remove graffiti regula- “if it's gang-related or racist graffiti, we said. “I think this is a positive step." d‘Ailly tions from an existing bylaw and set them could say take it down in one or two days.“ The other new part of the bylaw pertains said. on their own. he said. to offenders. When someone is caught tag- “Right now. citizens don't know how to The main advantage is that the new While the timeframe has changed. the ging. the police now have the option to levy call. who to call or when to call (about grafi'i- ‘ bylaw will remove the wait time currently onus of removal has not. If no offenders are a fine instead of lay a criminal charge. ti)? gfim Face the facts J ' r x r v" x 4: - ‘NllH t-ziNArw ' SM” S‘"°'°'"“" 5“ l .