The Strip is Littered ........

With ugly signs that are –stapled to hydro poles, stuck on public boulevard and cluttering what had started to become a better looking entrance to our City. There are sign bylaws https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=730,
which clearly state this kind of business signage is not permitted but as with fireworks


http://www.dailytownsman.com/article/20101028/CRANBROOK0101/310289981/-1/CRANBROOK/fireworks-forbidden-in-cranbrook-even-on-halloween







and recreational vehicle parking https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=957

the bylaws are blatantly ignored.

Our Mayor and Council tell us that these bylaws are complaint driven.This is a small town. People know people. Few people wish to upset a neighbour for fear of social repercussions. ‘Complaint driven’ – how negative to pit neighbour against neighbour and business against business. Some of us foolishly thought this town was getting serious about cleaning up its appearance. There are bylaws and a bylaw officer(soon to be two). If Council is just paying lip service to those who truly care and wish to add some pleasing aesthetics to the town then why bother if bylaw enforcement is impotent. As if to further mock its own bylaws the City itself has screwed an ‘aggressive deer’ notice to a hydro pole in my neighbourhood. Apart from the fact that this sign faces private property and neither I nor anyone else I know have yet to see these aggressive deer on my daily walks on this road, Hydro specifically requests that signs NOT be placed on their poles for safety reasons. http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/letters/123372658.html

If, after the first week the on-street parking regulations were implemented for recreational vehicles, a bylaw officer had cruised the town and identified, warned or fined those who flaunted the very well publicized new bylaw, word would have travelled. It would not have become the problem it has once more become.

If after one tacky sign had been stapled to a hydro pole the business had been reminded there is a bylaw against this, they would not have proliferated at the rate they have.

If businesses were forced to follow through with their landscaping requirements we would not have piles of waste and unsightly fences in full visibility of tourists and shoppers.


We would not have signs trying to outdo the very greening up and beautification efforts of volunteers and some businesses. No wonder tourists drive right through the town. Just the Unsightly Premises Bylaw https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=133
alone should be enough to prevent some eyesores.


We have Sign Bylaws, Parking Bylaws, Riparian Zone Regulations and Unsightly Premises Bylaws. What is going on is past ‘reasonable leeway’. The free for all is destroying what some are trying to accomplish – a more vibrant, beautiful and sustainable city.

And that is a crying shame.