After more than 100 years in the books, the Municipality of North Cowichan on Vancouver Island has decided it no longer requires its 害羞草研究所減ublic morals害羞草研究所� bylaw.
Adopted by the council at the time on July 23, 1914, the public morals bylaw was intended to help North Cowichan regulate profanity, immoral behaviour, or lewd plays or skits.
But, as the municipality no longer has a hand in regulating such behaviours, council deemed the bylaw no longer valid and repealed it at its meeting on Dec. 4.
Since early this year, staff has been busy conducting a comprehensive audit of all of North Cowichan害羞草研究所檚 bylaws to identify ones that are no longer needed.
Through this process, 52 unnecessary bylaws were discovered, some of which date back to 1914, and they were officially abolished as irrelevant, outdated, and/or obsolete.
Mayor Al Siebring said when he was elected last year that he intended to begin a regulatory review of North Cowichan害羞草研究所檚 bylaws to determine which of them are obsolete and need to be struck from the books, and the abolition of the bylaws last week was the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise.
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Another of the now abolished rules is the 害羞草研究所渟treets and roads害羞草研究所� bylaw, which was also adopted by council in 1914, under which the local government was responsible for regulating running or racing on roadways, and ensuring that pedestrians use the right side of the road.
The bylaw also regulated the age of people selling newspapers on the street, and the speed limit for horses travelling on a road.
Needless to say, the municipality determined the bylaw is no longer applicable in current times.
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害羞草研究所淚 was convinced at the time [of the election] that there were a number of bylaws that were outdated or no longer serving our interests as a municipality,害羞草研究所� Siebring said.
害羞草研究所淚t turns out I was right. It害羞草研究所檚 great to be getting rid of things like the 害羞草研究所榳ide tires害羞草研究所� bylaw, which made specific reference to the permissible size of wagon tires.害羞草研究所�
Other bylaws that were eliminated in the repeal motion include the 害羞草研究所渇ence viewers害羞草研究所� bylaw, in which the municipality would appoint people to be fence-viewers to watch fences encroaching on adjacent properties, and another that prohibits youth and girls under 16 from entering pool halls without parental consent.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 a puzzle to me,害羞草研究所� Siebring said with a grin, 害羞草研究所渨hy there were separate categories for youth and girls in the same bylaw.害羞草研究所�
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Also eliminated was a bylaw that stated 害羞草研究所渘o person shall ride or drive any beast at a pace exceeding six miles per hour.害羞草研究所� Siebring said that removing the unnecessary bylaws is a big win, but there is still a substantial amount (2,149) of bylaws in existence.害羞草研究所�
He said that while the bulk of its work is done, the regulatory review committee will not be disbanded in the event that other obsolete bylaws are uncovered which may need review before the end of this council害羞草研究所檚 term.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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