MOOSE JAW — Mayor Clive Tolley plans to work with city hall to create a littering bylaw after learning that people are allegedly leaving garbage in parking lots and throwing it out their vehicle windows.
Tolley explained during the July 6 Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting that whenever he drives past the Town ‘n’ Country Mall parking lot, he sees teenagers sitting in their vehicles eating fast food and tossing the garbage onto the ground. However, whenever he drives by later, someone — potentially from the mall — has cleaned up the refuse.
“It just doesn’t sit well with me that these teenagers keep throwing their stuff out there. Now, I have contacted the mall management to see if they’ve tried in the past putting out garbage dispensers,” he said.
What the mayor has learned through research is the City of Moose Jaw does not have a littering bylaw, which means the Moose Jaw Police Service cannot enforce a policy that doesn’t exist, Tolley pointed out.
City administration informed Tolley that littering is mentioned in the boulevard bylaw, which means homeowners must keep clean boulevards adjacent to their properties. Still, he plans to work with city hall to develop something to address this situation better.
There are no municipal bylaws that penalize littering in the community, although there are bylaws that deal with placing and leaving burning materials or glass on sidewalks or roadways, said Deputy Chief Rick Johns.
However, the police can lay charges under the provincial litter control act and give offenders tickets worth $250 if officers see people throwing garbage — including cigarette butts — out their vehicle window.
Even if police don’t see it, residents can help capture alleged offenders if they see such actions, record the licence plate, and are willing to give a statement, Johns continued. That evidence would be important since a Crown prosecutor could use it in court.
“That would be a good piece of information to know. I mean, everybody’s got phones,” said board chairwoman Mary Lee Booth.
The police can issue a public service announcement on its social media feeds about that, agreed Johns.
Another concern Tolley had about the mall parking lot was people street racing and squealing their tires at night. He lives near there and sees the action and smell of burning rubber, while he has received complaints from residents about motorists “flying around with loud stereos” and engaging in “shenanigans.”
The mayor wondered if it were possible for police to lay charges since the parking lot is private property.
Officers have been active in dealing with that situation because, between April and June, they received 17 driving complaints and six noise complaints and responded to all but one situation, Johns said. The one they missed was because the alleged offender had left before they arrived.
Similar to the garbage situation, police can lay charges if they see the incident happen, he continued. Moreover, they can also charge the registered owner if residents see the stunting happening and capture the vehicle’s licence plate and submit that info.
The next police board meeting is Thursday, Aug. 10.
