Raise the Hammer

I received a response from Tim McCabe on the weekend and sent the following reply today.

Yes, it is flagrant Graham. And we have been on this with zoning violation orders since late last year. The law does not allow us to just close them up unfortunately.
. There is a process we have to follow legislative. We also have no way to recover monies he gained through this illegal use.
I will have my staff give you more detailed info on our actions to date after weekend.
Tim
Tim McCabe
General Manager, Planning and Economic Development Department
City of Hamilton
Telephone: (905)546-4339

Tim,

While I appreciate your timely response, I am somewhat perturbed, to say the least, that you say you have been taking action on this file for over six months and have not been able to achieve anything. I guess my understanding of the term by-law was a little more literal than it should have been (i.e. by (according to) the law). Instead, I conclude that it really means something else (i.e. by (around) the law), much like a by-pass.

As for monies generated through illegal activity, surely there is some remedy available to the City of Hamilton, the Province of Ontario, the country of Canada, to stop people from, as you put it, flagrantly disregarding the laws of the land/municipality? Or, am I missing something? Further, if this is an indication of the power of the by-laws and the enforcement of same, then may I make a modest proposal and suggest that rather than overhauling the department that you simply eliminate it. This will save the taxpayers a lot of money, and the law-breakers a lot of annoying paperwork.

If my tone sounds a bit sharp, you will please forgive me as I assumed that the law was there to be enforced and upheld by people to whom we pay a salary.

I look forward to a more detailed response from you staff regarding my original request for a sequence of actions taken by the by-law enforcement people, and, as a result of your response, some help in understanding the role and power of the by-law related to the illegal operation of a revenue generating parking facility directly across from the seat of our local government?

Thanks for your understanding,

Graham Crawford