Hamilton bylaw officers get new powers to charge waterfall scofflaws
Hamilton will crack down on a pandemic spike in risky behaviour near waterfalls by deputizing bylaw officers to lay provincial charges in conservation areas.
A COVID-19 lockdown surge in visitors to natural areas has already prompted the city to ticket more than 300 people in the last month under the parks bylaw for trespassing in dangerous areas of municipally owned cataracts like Albion and Chedoke Falls.
But bylaw officers have no ability to enforce" such rules on private property, including lands owned by the Hamilton Conservation Authority, said city bylaw head Ken Leendertse.
He pointed to popular Webster's Falls, where a teenager was critically injured after a 12-metre fall last Friday.
A lot of people are gathering in the bowl (of the falls.) But we don't even have the legal authority there to tell people Get out, it's not safe.'"
Popular waterfall or scarp edge destinations like Spencer Gorge (which includes Webster's and Tew's Falls), the Dundas Peak, Tiffany Falls and part of the Devil's Punchbowl are all no go enforcement areas for bylaw.
But that jurisdictional conundrum will change in about a week after city council voted to allow the conservation authority to delegate powers to bylaw officers to enforce provincial trespass and Conservation Authorities Act regulations.
That change will allow bylaw officers to lay charges related to trespassing, bypassing safety fences and after-hours visits, for example. (Related tickets range from $100 to $150.)
Conservation authority officials can already ticket waterfall scofflaws, but we really don't have the resources ... to deal with the surge of visitation we are seeing," said Gord Costie, conservation area service director for the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
He estimated winter and spring visits to conservation areas are up between 25 and 50 per cent, even with a pilot reservation service being used to limit access to the popular Spencer Gorge. It's been a little overwhelming for staff."
Coun. Arlene Vanderbeek put forward the motion to empower bylaw officers on conservation authority lands Wednesday, arguing risky behaviour" is being seen across the city. A memorandum of understanding with the authority to finalize the change could be signed within a week.
Councillors vented about explorers scaling the cliffs at Webster's Falls, tiptoeing across Smokey Hollow gorge on a slackline and even climbing a 10-metre-high steel cross on the scarp edge near Devil's Punchbowl to pose like a superhero."
The expanded powers for bylaw officers will solve a thorny enforcement problem at Devil's Punchbowl in Stoney Creek, where the upper portion is owned by the city - but the bowl is on conservation authority land.
Now, it doesn't really matter whether someone is climbing down or climbing up ... fines can be laid," said Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark.
The latest crackdown effort comes after council signed off on a 2021 budget boost aimed at adding new bylaw and parking officers to proactively patrol city-owned waterfalls this summer.
That program started March 15 and has already resulted in 236 tickets for trespassers scaling fences or dangerous areas around Albion Falls in the Red Hill Valley. Another 68 tickets have been handed out at Chedoke Falls in the west end and two tickets at Smokey Hollow in Waterdown.
The city fenced off the top of Albion Falls after the number of rope rescues spiked to 29 - a five-year high - in 2016.
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com