The council moves to set minimum standards for the city’s scruffy alleys

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The city of Windsor has hundreds of miles of abandoned, crumbling, overgrown, crime-attracting alleys that most councilors believe need more care and affection.

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That’s the idea behind a motion passed Monday that asks the city council to come up with a minimum set of standards for alleys, which are mostly found in the inner city of the city. They are owned by the city and yet relatively little money is spent on their maintenance – about $ 200,000 a year. One big reason is that alleys are the only city-owned asset (such as roads, sewers, streetlights, and sidewalks) that are not maintained to a certain standard, Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin said.

“There are alleys that have bigger potholes than cars,” he said hyperbolically. “And since there are no minimum standards, we don’t have a need to deal with it.” He said Windsor is the only medium to large size municipality in Ontario that does not have minimum standards for alleys.

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With minimum standards, he said, once an alley’s pavement deteriorates to a certain level, it will be resurfaced. Once the vegetation grows too large, it will be cleaned. And once crime statistics show the need, lighting will be installed.

It is a system that does not work

“It’s not just about giving people better alleys, it’s about building better neighborhoods,” said Bortolin, who said fixing alleys is a necessary component of transforming central neighborhoods into places where people want to live. People won’t want to move to areas where alleys behind houses are broken, dirty and unsafe, he said, arguing that improving central neighborhoods actually helps people in suburban neighborhoods like South Windsor and East Windsor because it increases tax revenue. of central neighborhoods without the added costs associated with building new subdivisions.

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“Investing in core neighborhoods, where services already exist, the more people move into these neighborhoods, every building that is built, every house that is built, actually increases our tax base without increasing any expense.”

The only council member who voted against the motion was Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis, who fears the inevitable result of minimum standards for alleys, will spend millions of dollars fixing the alleys, money that would be better spent addressing the complaints he hears from residents.

“I would like to see more lighting throughout the city (many streets in your South Windsor neighborhood have no street lighting), more road rehabilitation, more sewer rebuilding, more beautification of our front streets,” as well as more sidewalks. , said. said.

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“I’m not prepared to raise my hand and say ‘OK, let’s raise taxes to invest in alleys’ when I know that money is needed on the streets that lead.”

A 2019 United Way report called for the revitalization of alleys, unsightly dumps of discarded mattresses, discarded syringes and crumbling pavement, as a vital component of urban renewal. It recommended: creating houses with alleys to help address the housing shortage (several have since been built); name alleys: turn them into greenways with bushes, benches and gardens that would help alleviate flooding caused by the rains; the creation of commercial enterprises such as restaurant patios, farmers markets, and block parties; using them as bike lanes; and closing alleys that are no longer in use, dividing them among neighboring owners.

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The city has about 140 kilometers of paved alleys and 84 km of unpaved, consisting of grass alleys and gravel alleys. The city reclassifies the gravel alleys twice a year, while the maintenance of the turf alleys is the responsibility of the homeowners. Homeowners abutting all alleys are responsible for cleaning up overgrowth and removing trash, which is a major complaint at Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante faces many unpaved alleys.

While some homeowners take care of their section of the alley, many, particularly in areas with lots of student properties owned by out-of-town owners, don’t. And that leaves responsible property owners in the difficult position of figuring out which properties are not cleaning their alleys and reporting them to 311 for city law enforcement.

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“It is a system that does not work,” said Costante. “It is not fair that the residents who are taking care of their plot do this type of work.”

An administration report on Costante’s request for minimum standards says some other Canadian cities are using the alleys as “an integral and crucial part of the urban renewal strategy.” When embellished, an alley becomes a welcoming space that invites visitors and enhances public safety.

“Beautifying the alley space can improve the image of the city, revitalize communities, and can improve the quality of life for residents who live and work in the community,” he says.

City staff from a myriad of departments will form an alley standards and development committee, charged with: recommending service levels; address alternative uses; suggestion
the signs and marks to be erected; capital costs; annual operating costs, application alternatives; and possible ways to recoup some of the costs.

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Costante admitted that when the policy returns there will likely be a request for money. But there could also be savings in the amount currently spent investigating complaints, addressing rodent infestations and police calls, he said, citing common complaints people have about alleys of discarded needles and litter dumping. .

“When you activate spaces, when you clean them and activate them with lighting, bicycle infrastructure, beautification, there will be less inclination on the part of people to carry out illicit activities such as drug use, dumping, etc.,” he said.

“We have much of this infrastructure and it is not being used to its full potential. I think it could really change the quality of life, especially in our inner-city and more mature neighborhoods, if we maximized its potential. “

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