Top Ten Ways To Be A Great Miltonian This Summer And Fall

What follows are the Top Ten complaints I have received over the last 18 months since being elected as your Local Councillor. Let’s work on all of them together in the months to come with a view to eliminating them and creating a better place for all of us to live, work and play:

Challenge: Speeding through residential neighbourhoods

Solution: Demographically, Milton is now the youngest community in Halton and one of the youngest in the Greater Toronto Area. That means there are a lot of young people crossing and sometimes playing on our residential streets, riding bicycles and attending our schools. Please follow the speed limit, drive according to the road conditions, watch out for children and, overall, drive defensively. No-one wants to see anyone make a mistake on our streets that they will regret for the rest of their lives. 

Challenge: Running red lights

Solution: It has become all too common in Milton, but that doesn’t make it right. It is against the law to run a red light. When you do it, you put your own life at risk as well as someone else’s. 

Challenge: Parking over sidewalks and across boulevards

Solution: Parking over a sidewalk or even partially over a sidewalk is illegal. Parking on or partially over a sidewalk also doesn’t allow a pedestrian or someone in a wheelchair to walk or wheel safely along that sidewalk. Parking on the boulevard between the sidewalk and the roadway is legal, unless the driveway is located within 50 metres of an intersection. Then, doing so is illegal. Why? It impairs their ability to turn onto a nearby street. 

Challenge: Allowing long grass and weeds to grow on lawns

Solution: Keep Milton beautiful — cut your lawn and the boulevard in front of your home on a regular basis. Collect the grass cuttings from the sidewalk and the street when you’re done. And, if there is garbage or animal waste on your lawn, pick it up immediately as it is unsightly, smelly and attracts rodents. The Town of Milton’s Clean Yards Bylaw does not permit grass or weeds to be more than 8 inches or 20.32 cm tall. If you are unable to cut your grass because of a physical ailment or disability, please notify the Town. 

Challenge: Leaving grass cuttings on streets / sidewalks

Solution: After you have cut the grass, immediately collect the grass clippings from the sidewalk or street because leaving them there is a violation of the Town’s Road Fouling Bylaw. To help avoid leaving grass on the sidewalk or street, buy a grass bag for your mower or turn the mower around so the grass clippings land on the boulevard or lawn.   

Challenge: Storing recycling/garbage bins on the front porch

Solution: The vast majority of homes in Milton have a garage or carport, both of which were designed to store automobiles, lawn mowers, tools and recycling bins/garbage bins. Leaving recycling and garbage bins on your front porch is unsightly, smelly and attracts rodents. It is also a violation of the Town’s Property Standards Bylaw.

Challenge: Placing basketball nets on boulevards

Solution: Basketball nets are permitted to be placed on a driveway or on the edge of the roadway in front of the driveway. Please ensure they are properly secured to prevent a possible injury from a tip-over. Placing them on the boulevard is a violation of the Town’s Road Fouling Bylaw. Doing so has the potential to destroy the grass and damage the trees. Once they are no longer in use, they should immediately be placed in the garage or on the driveway adjacent to the garage. 

Challenge: Building driveway extensions

Solution: Driveway extensions are permitted on the property owner’s portion of the driveway without a permit, provided the extension meets the Town’s Zoning Bylaw criteria. No extensions are permitted on the public property portion of the driveway. Doing so is a violation of the Town’s Road Fouling Bylaw. 

Challenge: Making noise

Solution: Milton’s neighbourhoods are to be quiet between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Depending on the type of noise, the evening hour can be extended to 11 p.m. That’s only fair to those who work, those with young children, those who are struggling with a family matter or others who just want to get a good night’s rest. For the sake of your neighbours, keep the music down, put the Harley to bed early and take the Leafs-Canadiens debate inside. 

Challenge: Parking overnight on streets

Solution: No parking on residential streets is permitted between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., unless an on-street parking exception is obtained from the Town of Milton. It is strictly enforced through the Town’s Parking Bylaw. 

 CR