Kingston City Council votes to enact 17 new Administrative Monetary Penalties
At its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, Kingston City Council voted unanimously in favour of approving 17 new Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) in relation to three City bylaws.
As Kingstonist first detailed earlier in the week, Council received a report from the Administrative Policies Committee, which recommended the bevy of fines, allowed for under the Municipal Act, under three City of Kingston bylaws:
- Bylaw 2021-10, “A Bylaw to License and Regulate Short-term Rentals in the City of Kingston,”
- Bylaw 2004-190, “A Bylaw to Regulate the Use of City Streets,” and
- Bylaw 2005-100, “A Bylaw for Prescribing Standards For The Maintenance And Occupancy Of Property Within The City of Kingston.”
One of the last items on the agenda for the October 17 meeting, the matter saw very little discussion before being passed unanimously. In fact, the only discussion occurred prior to the time councillors would normally discuss an item before them. This occurred by way of an amendment, moved by Sydenham District Councillor Conny Glenn.
“This amendment is fairly straightforward,” Glenn said, as the amendment was displayed on the screens in Council Chambers. “In the original motion, we did not include the third reading [of the bylaws], so we’re just asking the third reading to be included tonight, so hopefully we can expedite moving this ahead.”
A bylaw must receive three readings to be enacted, something Glenn said the Administrative Policies Committee, which she chairs, wanted to see happen sooner rather than later.
“We’ve been waiting for quite some time to get the AMPs changed and moved ahead,” she said.
“So we’d like to be able to get them in force as soon as possible, and putting the third reading on this meeting would assist [Licensing and Enforcement] Director [Curtis] Smith and his department with getting on with the very busy work that they are likely to have in the coming weekend.”
This coming weekend is indeed likely to be a busy one for Bylaw Enforcement, as Queen’s University’s annual Homecoming events take place from Friday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The University District Safety Initiative has already been put into effect as of October 14, and the nightly closure of Breakwater Park and Gord Edgar Downie Pier will go into effect the evening of October 19 – both actions being taken in attempt to quash large gatherings.
Mayor Bryan Paterson agreed with Glenn’s summary of the amendment, calling it “reasonably self-explanatory” and asking Council if everyone was clear before calling for the vote to amend the original recommendation. Council voted unanimously in favour of the amendment, and again unanimously in favour of the recommendation. As a result, the 17 new AMPs were approved and are now in effect. A full detailing of those AMPs is available in Kingstonist’s original coverage of this matter. The report from the Administrative Policies Committee to Council – which includes a full list of enforceable AMPs in Kingston – is available on the City of Kingston website. And, as always, the full meeting of Council can be watched on the Kingston City Council YouTube channel.