Surrey: While the vast majority of Surrey residents comply with City by-laws, there are still a significant number of complaints that the City deals with annually. Upon investigation by By-law Officers, the voluntary compliance in the City of Surrey continues to remain at a high rate. Between April 1st and June 30th, the By-law Enforcement Division reports a voluntary compliance rate of 95%. This is an increase from the voluntary compliance rate of 90% reported in the first quarter of 2014. The infractions that have been resolved include Property Maintenance, Secondary Suites and Noise complaints.
Secondary suite registrations continue to rise notably. As of the end of June, 25,406 secondary suites and 1,060 coach houses have been registered in the City of Surrey. Despite the surge in registrations, By-law officers have issued 31 tickets with the maximum penalty of $1,000 for illegal suites. The By-law Enforcement Division will continue to take an aggressive approach with problem properties.
To meet the needs of the community, the City of Surrey has implemented a new staffing model that will have By-law officers fully deployed throughout the week, including Saturdays and Sundays. The balanced coverage will allow for up to 14 By-law officers to quickly respond to issues such as construction without permits, dumping of refuse and Secondary Suite inspections on weekends.
“In response to the needs of our residents we are providing 7 days a week coverage of our By-law officers. This will allow residents of Surrey even greater access to our By-law officers,” says Mayor Dianne Watts. “In addition, the enhanced service will allow for a more effective and prompt response to community enforcement needs.”
By-law officers will also be available to help educate the community on the City’s by-laws and regulations and will continue to work in close collaboration with Surrey RCMP and Surrey Firefighters.
“With By-law officers at full staffing levels throughout the week, residents can now come to expect and rely on the same level of service that is regularly found on weekdays,” says By-law Manager Jas Rehal.
