To the Editor,
Terrific news, council will finally take action to enjoin property owners to keep up maintenance on the many vacant buildings in Town.
After years of complaints from residents, this is welcome news and Amherst will soon join the ranks of a multitude of both Canadian and American communities with similar bylaws. Let's hope the bylaw has some teeth to really encourage the action required.
With council in such a progressive mood, they should take a long look at the county's new noise bylaw. It may surprise some readers to learn that the town has no such bylaw. There are vague references but they only apply to activity between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Some would argue that 6 a.m. is definitely too early for contractors or homeowners to crank up machinery or start pounding nails,, but it happens all too frequently.
Playing ear-splitting noise (music?) that can be heard for blocks after 10 p.m. would also seem inappropriate and annoying, yet the police have no noise bylaw to enforce either situation.
Mayor Small must be commended for spurring council action on the vacant building issue after decades of inaction. Let's hope it's not too late to save many of the vacant downtown buildings. Enacting a noise bylaw would be a logical next step. Keep up the momentum.
Jim Kerr, Amherst
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