I will give you a few links to follow but here is the “Coles Notes” version of the story…
In “Rural Ottawa” (actually in the village of Constance Bay which used to be in the Township of West Carleton Province of Ontario) some people have gone to a rustic setting for their yard. Wild Flowers and lawns not as manicured as some people would like…
Some people have actually made a formal complaint to the City about wild flowers and long grass in a rural setting…. And to make things even more idiotic the City is actually investigating!!!
Now this place is really “Rural” and proud of it…. To put things in perspective just about 1 mile North of them is a Girl Guide Camp. This was rural area before it was swallowed up by the City of Ottawa and is approximately 16 miles (as the crow flies) from Parliament Hill and almost 13 miles North of Scotia Bank Place which is the home of the Ottawa Senators NHL Team.
And if you go the Ottawa Citizen Website you will see different stories on this topic here and here… Don’t get confused by the same photo being used in both articles…There are actually two different articles…
Now what does “flowers and long grass” have to do in an Amateur Radio Blog???
Well as much as I don’t want to make a Political Statement this is kind of starting to be like one of those stories about people who buy a house close to the airport then complain about the noise.
They are complaining about long grass and wild flowers in the country for gawds sake…
This has caught my eye because Liz and myself have been thinking of moving out of the City into a more rustic environment so she can have a garden to set up as she likes and I could have enough room to grow the antenna farm I have always wanted.
I can understand and can even support different restrictions of various sorts in the City itself but complaining out in the Country??? about Wild Flowers???
Now although the local bylaws give me the right to put up an antenna in a “Rural Area” will the neighbors complain as well???
I mean no offense to the people of West Carleton here but really if you were to look at an old map before we became one big happy city your closest hospital was in Arnprior Ontario. (actually it still is) You would have to travel to either Arnprior or Kanata for the closest Supermarket… Your closest Arena would be in Carp Ontario (also part of rural Ottawa) and I think your closest Liquor Store would either be in Carp or Arnprior. We are talking “Rural” here and thats why someone would want to live there. To get away from it all…
This is an area I would happily move into to so I could escape the City… But now there is a chance that the neighbors might not like how Liz looks after her garden…
If they don’t like that how will they feel about my 48 foot self supporting tower with the tri-band beam on the top???
Now depending on how the City actually handles this complaint Liz and myself (along with others who have acted in good faith) might have to re-think some of their plans and future plans…
Normally what we see is people in the Rural Areas complaining about Goverment telling them what to do with their land… Here we have a case of someone complaining to the Goverment about what their neighbor is (or is not doing) with their land…
Now after a bit of my rambling what I am saying is that I find it just amazing that someone would complain about wild flowers and long grass out in Constance Bay. I also find it scary because what else will those transplanted City folk complain about if I move out into the country so I can enjoy my hobby???
73bob
Tags: amateur radio, City of Ottawa By Laws, Constance Bay Ontario, land use complaint
