Sunday 15 April 2012

Fence By-law

On a walk through the neighbourhood, it has been noted that there a few front yard fences that are both too tall and are built of "closed or solid type construction", both features which do not comply with the existing City of Mississauga Fence By-law 349-83. We are not going to point fingers, but you will know who you are (or if it is your neighbour) simply by looking at the construction of the fence in your front yard.

To help out, we have added a PDF reference to the Fence By-law on the Resources page of the neighbourhood website (http://www.birchglen.com/). The By-law is too long and comprehensive to quote verbatim in this post, so we have tried to put the relevant section in plain English.

The section regarding front yard fences is Section 6 on page 4 of the by-law. It states, plainly that:
  • A front yard fence of solid type construction cannot be taller than 1 metre (39 inches) above effective ground level;
  • A front yard fence of open type construction can be up to 1.5 metres (59 inches) above effective ground level
  • The fence cannot be closer than 4.5 metres (14 feet 9 inches) to the nearest streetline;
  • If a rear-yard or side-yard fence is within 4.5 metres of a driveway on a adjoining lot, it must be of open-type construction to provide adequate sightlines for any vehicles existing said driveway, for the safety of passing pedestrians.
The By-law states that a "fence of open construction" means a fence constructed so that at least one third of its vertical surface area is open space, enabling motorists and pedestrians to have a clear view through such fence. (By-law 349-83).
        "Effective ground level" is defined as the mean level of the ground within a radius of 1.25 metres (49 inches) of the ground location being considered -- where the fence is located. This definition may affect the owners of those properties that have a retaining wall that raises the level of their front yard above the adjacent sidewalk. The Building Department might be able to offer some clarification as to how you decide the effective ground level of your property.
        A fence is defined as "a railing, wall, hedge, line of posts, shrubs, trees, wire, gate, boards, pickets, or other similar substances, used to enclose or divide in whole or in part a yard or other land, to establish a property boundary, or to provide privacy".

Please go to the Resources page of our website and click on the Fence By-law, or go to the City of Mississauga website and search the by-law.

Friday 13 April 2012

Stay Out of Birchwood Park!

As mentioned in the previous post, Birchwood Park is closed for scheduled work by the City of Mississauga Community Services Department beween April and October 2012. This means that everyone is asked not to enter the park during the next few months.
          Barriers have been placed at all entrances to the park. Unfortunately, some people believe that barriers are not meant for them -- already the one on Kos Blvd was knocked over yesterday. Well, it has been set back up, and is larger and wider! Please respect the closures and the barriers. It may seem an inconvenience to you at the moment, but you will all survive the extra steps it takes to walk along the street instead of through the park. And, who knows, the exercise may benefit you in the long run.
         Please refer all questions to the Project Manager, Michael Gusche, at (905) 615-3200 ext. 5363.

Thursday 12 April 2012

Birchwood Park Closed for Maintenance

You may have noticed that all of the entrances into Birchwood Park have been closed with fencing as of yesterday. Parks staff will be making several improvements throughout the park over the next couple of months, much of which was explained at a Public Information Centre earlier this month at Lorne Park Secondary School. The notice, mailed to every household in the community, contained a map/diagram of the proposed work:
  • topsoil will be added to specific areas at the bottom of Kentucky Hill;
  • the existing path going west from the bottom of the hill towards Clarkson Road will be rerouted to run closer to the fenceline boundary of the development property 
  • the multiuse/basketball pad will be repaved
  • a new paved walkway will be created going up the east side of Kentucky Hill, with a small paved observation pad at the top -- and a gravel path will lead down the other side towards the baseball diamonds to join up with the existing path
  • some invasive species of plants will be removed
  • some new trees will be planted
  • existing tree areas to be preserved will be fenced
  • some new edge planting will be done around preserved tree areas and along the creek
In general, the park will look great once the work has been completed. Areas were disturbed during the construction of the sewers along Lakeshore (which was routed through the park), resulting in the need for soil and pathway replacement. Unfortunately, there was some negative press surrounding this which blew it completely out of proportion. The park land is safe for use by humans and animals; it simply needed some attention, maintenance and beautification. We will be the beneficiaries.
           It is great to have a park like this in our own back yard. Please be patient and considerate. We will have our park back soon, and looking better than ever!