A citizen complained that the height of her neighbour’s hedges contravenes to the municipal by-laws and constitutes a safety risk for pedestrians and motorists. Indeed, one side of this high hedge skirts an alley giving access to a street.
Our investigation confirmed that the hedges exceeded the height permitted under the by-law which was in force at the time. But Arrondissement de Saint-Laurent refused to intervene because this by-law was currently under study and would most likely be modified so as to increase the maximum height permitted for hedges, in the borough. As a result of this change, many hedges would conform to the new regulation.
The Ombudsman de Montréal has not deemed it appropriate to intervene immediately to request the strict application of a by-law that was on the verge of being modified so as to regularize the situation.
Nevertheless, she intervened on the safety aspect. The Ombudsman went on location and she noted that part of the hedge was hindering the visibility of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists circulating on the street or in the alley skirting the hedge. During her visit, she even witnessed a near-accident between a bicycle and a child who was coming out of the alley: no one had noticed her presence before she came out of the alley because she was completely hidden by the hedge.
The Ombudsman, therefore, intervened with the borough and this part of the hedge was quickly cut to a height of one meter, on a distance of three meters from the sidewalk.
