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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 22, 2016 | 16 Butting heads over boulevard/shoreline landscaping by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff Oakville residents planning on doing any landscaping on the municipal right-of-way or other Town of Oakville land near a boulevard or shoreline should be aware a single complaint can cause all that hard work to be undone. This ongoing struggle between some residents and the Town continued this summer with Bayview Road local Felix Heller expressing frustration with the Town for recently directing him to remove large rocks he had placed at the edge of the roadway to keep vehicles from driving up on the boulevard and damaging the lawn. "With the infill building boom rampant in existing Oakville, it is unfortunate that the Town of Oakville has not kept up with more stringent bylaws to protect their boulevards from destruction by contractors and guests of neighbours," wrote Heller in a letter to the Oakville Beaver. "Ultimately, it is we homeowners who are stuck with the upkeep of their dilapidated boulevards, which resulted in various emergency prevention treatments." Heller went on to state the rocks had been on his property for eight years, caused no problems and only came to the Town's attention because of a single complaint. Erik Zutis, manager of Infrastructure Residents' shoreline planting near Water's Edge Drive has caused a ruckus such that the matter is heading to council after Town staff called on residents to remove the flowers to fall in with local bylaws. | photo by David Lea ­ Oakville Beaver Planning with the Town's Engineering and Construction Department, says keeping the municipal right-of-way clear is a matter of public safety. "Not only does that expose the Town to potential liability through an accident that may happen, whether it is a vehicle, cyclist or pedestrian, it exposes residents to those hazards," said Zutis. "In the fall, a lot of these features (rocks) get covered in leaves. You can appreciate if someone is walking along through a bunch of leaves, they might catch an edge and fall." Stakes, stairs and other features are not permitted in these areas for the same reason. Zutis noted there is a permit process residents can go through to see about the planting of flower gardens in these areas. Beyond that there is little residents can legally do. One bylaw violation letter stated all private landscaping features or amenities (including, but not restricted to berms, trees, shrubs, gardens, rocks, timbers, fences, walls, pillars, signs, lamps, sculptures, fountains, cosmetic structures, sprinkler/irrigation systems) are not authorized for placement within Town lands. The letter went on to note, "Any of these unauthorized features, which are deemed by the director of public works (or designate) to create a hazard, compromise drainage, or occupy areas that are required for municipal or other authorized purposes, shall be removed by the private property owner or by the Town at the property owner's expense. "We truly only react mostly on a complaint basis or if we see it is a potential safety hazard," said Zutis. He said vehicles parked significantly off the see Landscaping on p.17