Neglected or naturalized? City councillors in Sudbury call for more clarity in yard bylaw

In a bid to clear up confusion surrounding Sudbury's yard maintenance bylaws, city councillors Deb McIntosh and Al Sizer are proposing to review guidelines that distinguish between intentionally naturalized gardens and neglected properties.

This comes at the request of the Greater Sudbury Food Policy Council, which has received complaints from residents who were visited by bylaw enforcement after growing patches of wildflowers and native plants in their yards.

This raised concerns about the current regulations and their impact on gardens designed to attract and support pollinators. 

Coun. McIntosh says the upcoming motion is meant to provide more clarity for peoples who want to find ways to naturalize their properties without facing complaints about their yard's appearance.

The current Sudbury yard bylaws stipulate that "no owner shall fail to cut any grass, weeds or wild vegetation growing on their yard that exceeds 20 centimetres in height from June 1 to December 1."

"I think that bylaw officers are going out and causing people to have to clear their wildflower gardens that are intentionally planted. That's because the bylaw says X, and there's no wiggle room around that," said McIntosh. 

"If someone complains about the yard and bylaw comes, they just look at it, it's over 20 centimetres and you've got to cut it."

The goal of the upcoming motion is to align municipal bylaws with the growing interest in naturalized yards, and to look at how other municipalities tackle this issue.

According to data from the City of Greater Sudbury, some 1,500 yard bylaw complaints were lodged last year. That includes complaints that aren't related to landscaping, such as litter on the property.

'An element of care' 

Nina-Marie Lister is a professional planner and director of the Ecological Design Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she's a professor of the School of Urban and Regional Planning.

She ran into trouble with Toronto bylaw enforcement a few years ago when neighbours complained about the appearance of her property, which contained around 100 different species of plants, shrubs and trees. 

That experience led her to challenge the city and also to do work with municipalities across the country to update and improve yard bylaws. 

Lister thinks bringing in more clarity is key for Sudbury. 

"Right now, there are many bylaws that are written in a way that's vague and are enforced arbitrarily."

When working with municipalities looking to distinguish between naturalized and neglected spaces, Lister suggests looking for what she calls "landscapes of care."

"There are places where it's obvious people are caring and doing something with the natural world," she said. "Neglect is when there is no element of care." 

"That can be distinguished pretty simply by asking the [property owner] what they are doing in their yard and what they are planting." 

McIntosh anticipates that, if approved, a review of the yard bylaw might present some challenges given the size of Greater Sudbury. 

"Whatever bylaw we come up with, it has to be for everybody," she said. 

"No one is going to complain about wildflower gardens out in rural areas, but inside the city we need to have some parameters because you've got more neighbours."