[Link to Table of Legislative Changes which shows
currency of each section of the Act.]

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT — Continued
[RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 323

Part 22 — Miscellaneous Powers

Section Repealed

702 [Repealed 1997-25-127.]

Division 1 — Regulation of Animals

Application in relation to regional district animal control service

702.1 This Division applies only to a regional district that provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (b) [animal control].

Animal control authority

703 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) regulate or prohibit the keeping of dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits or other animals and define areas in which they may be kept or may not be kept;

(b) require that the owner, possessor or harbourer of a dog, or any class of dog, must keep it, as the bylaw directs,

(i) effectively muzzled while at large or on a highway or public place, or

(ii) on leash or under control of a competent person while on a highway or public place.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), "other animals" does not include any animal that the board did not have authority to regulate in respect of, or prohibit the keeping of, under section 703 as it read immediately before its re-enactment by the Community Charter Transitional Provisions, Consequential Amendments and Other Amendments Act, 2003.

(3) Without limiting subsection (1) (a), a bylaw under that provision may regulate the keeping of dogs by requiring persons who own, possess or harbour a dog to hold a licence for the dog.

(4) A bylaw referred to in subsection (3) may

(a) require a separate dog licence for each dog, and

(b) vary the amount of the fee according to the sex, age, size or breed of the dog.

(5) A dog licence issued under this section is for the calendar year in which the licence is issued.

(6) If a fee is imposed for a dog licence, the board may, by bylaw,

(a) provide for the payment of compensation, on a scale set out in the bylaw, to the owner of any domestic animal that is killed or injured by a dog over the age of 4 months, the owner of which is unknown and, after diligent inquiry, cannot be found, and

(b) provide for the maximum sum that is available in any one year for the purposes of compensation under this subsection.

Sections Repealed

704 to 706 [Repealed 2003-52-315.]

Animal pounds

707 The board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) provide for the seizure, impounding and detention of

(i) unlicensed dogs, and

(ii) animals referred to in section 703 (1) (a) that are unlawfully at large;

(b) establish, maintain and operate facilities as pounds;

(c) regulate and establish the fines and fees, including damages for trespassing on private property, to be levied and collected by pound keepers;

(d) provide for the sale or destruction of animals impounded if the fines, fees and other charges are not paid within a reasonable time.

Dangerous dogs

707.1 (1) The board may designate a person as an animal control officer as defined in section 49 [special powers in relation to dangerous dogs] of the Community Charter, and, if the board does so, section 49 of the Community Charter applies to the regional district.

(2) Despite section 702.1, a peace officer may exercise authority under section 49 of the Community Charter within the boundaries of a regional district.

Division 2

Sections Repealed

708 to 715 [Repealed 2003-52-317.]

Division 3 — Sundry Powers

Section Repealed

716 [Repealed 2003-52-318.]

Section Repealed

717 [Repealed 1999-37-155.]

Section Repealed

718 [Repealed 2003-52-318.]

Section Repealed

719 [Repealed 1998-34-148.]

Sections Repealed

720 to 722 [Repealed 2003-52-318.]

722.1 [Repealed 2003-52-318.]

Removal and deposit of sand, gravel and other soil

723 (1) This section applies to a regional district only if the regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (c).

(2) The board may, by bylaw, regulate or prohibit

(a) the removal of soil from, and

(b) the deposit of soil or other material on

any land in the regional district or in any area of the regional district.

(3) A bylaw under subsection (2) may make different regulations and prohibitions for different areas.

(4) Section 9 [spheres of concurrent authority] of the Community Charter applies to a provision in a bylaw under subsection (2) that

(a) prohibits the removal of soil, or

(b) prohibits the deposit of soil or other material and that makes reference to quality of the soil or material or to contamination.

(5) The board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) require the holding of a permit for

(i) the removal of soil from, or

(ii) the deposit of soil or other material on

any land in the regional district or in any area of the regional district;

(b) impose rates or levels of fees for a permit referred to in paragraph (a);

(c) impose rates or levels of fees for the activities referred to in paragraph (a).

(6) Fees under subsection (5) (b) or (c) may vary according to the quantity of soil removed or the quantity of soil or other material deposited, and the rates or levels of fees may be different for different areas of the regional district.

(7) A bylaw under subsection (5) (b) or (c) has no effect until it is approved by the minister.

Noise control

724 (1) If a regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (d), the board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) regulate or prohibit the making or causing of noises or sounds in or on a highway or elsewhere in the regional district

(i) that disturb, or tend to disturb, the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the neighbourhood, or of persons in the vicinity, or

(ii) that the board believes are objectionable or liable to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of individuals or the public;

(b) prevent or prohibit persons from shouting, using megaphones and making other noise in, at or on streets, wharves, docks, piers, steamboat landings, railway stations or other public places;

(c) prevent charivaries and similar disturbances of the peace.

(2) Regulations and prohibitions under subsection (1) (a) may be different for different areas of the regional district.

Nuisances and disturbances

725 (1) If a regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (d), the board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) prevent, abate and prohibit nuisances, and provide for the recovery of the cost of abatement of nuisances from the person causing the nuisance or other persons described in the bylaw;

(b) prohibit persons from

(i) causing or permitting water, rubbish or noxious, offensive or unwholesome matter to collect or accumulate around their premises, or

(ii) depositing or throwing bottles, broken glass or other rubbish in any open place;

(c) for the purpose of preventing unsightliness on real property,

(i) prohibit persons from placing graffiti on walls, fences or elsewhere on or adjacent to a public place, and

(ii) prohibit the owners or occupiers of real property from allowing their property to become or remain unsightly;

(d) for the purpose of remedying unsightliness on real property, require the owners or occupiers of real property, or their agents, to remove from it unsightly accumulations of filth, discarded materials, rubbish or graffiti;

(e) require the owners or occupiers of real property, or their agents, to clear the property of brush, trees, noxious weeds or other growths;

(f) require the owners or occupiers of real property, or their agents, to prevent infestation by caterpillars and other noxious or destructive insects and to clear the property of such insects;

(g) in relation to the emission of smoke, dust, gas, sparks, ash, soot, cinders, fumes or other effluvia,

(i) require the owners or occupiers of real property, or their agents, to eliminate or reduce the fouling or contaminating of the atmosphere through those emissions,

(ii) prescribe measures and precautions to be taken for the purpose of subparagraph (i), and

(iii) establish limits not to be exceeded for those emissions;

(h) require manufacturers and processors to dispose of the waste from their plants in the manner directed by the bylaw.

(i) to (m) [Repealed 2003-52-321.]

(2) and (3) [Repealed 2003-52-321.]

Section Repealed

725.1 [Repealed 2003-52-322.]

Fire and security alarm systems

726 (1) If a regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (e) in relation to fire alarm systems and security alarm systems, the board may, by bylaw, do one or more of the following:

(a) require permits for the operation of these systems and establish fees for these permits;

(b) establish fees to be paid

(i) by the owner or occupier of real property to which services are provided by or on behalf of the regional district in response to a false alarm of a system, or

(ii) by the persons who lease or otherwise provide these systems to the owners or occupiers of real property if services referred to in subparagraph (i) are provided in response to a false alarm of a system;

(c) provide that a fee under paragraph (b) (i), if unpaid, may be added to and form part of the taxes payable on the real property as taxes in arrear;

(d) exercise powers given by regulation under subsection (3);

(e) establish exemptions from the application of a bylaw under this section.

(2) A fee under subsection (1) (b) may vary in relation to the number of occasions on which services referred to in that subsection are provided.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation,

(a) grant additional powers to regional districts and the City of Vancouver to enact bylaws establishing specified prohibitions, restrictions, requirements and conditions regarding

(i) fire alarm systems and security alarm systems, and

(ii) the installation, operation, maintenance and repair of these systems, and

(b) authorize specified variations of the provisions of bylaws under paragraph (a).

(4) As an exception, a bylaw under this section does not apply to fire alarm systems that are intended to alert only the occupants of the dwelling unit in which they are installed.

Sections Repealed

727 and 727.1 [Repealed 2003-52-324.]

Fireworks

728 Subject to the Fireworks Act, if a regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (d), the board may, by bylaw, regulate or prohibit the sale or disposal to any person of firecrackers and other fireworks of every nature or kind.

House numbering

728.1 If a regional district provides a service referred to in section 797.1 (1) (f) [numbering of buildings], the board may, by bylaw, require owners or occupiers of real property to place building or structure numbers assigned by the regional district in a conspicuous place.

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