Port Moody residents who don’t ensure a fire hydrant located on a boulevard in front of their home isn’t kept clear could soon face fines.
On Tuesday, Nov. 21, council’s governance and legislation committee will consider a request from the city’s fire department and engineering and operations department to clarify the responsibilities of property owners to maintain safe access to fire hydrants located on boulevards.
In a report, deputy fire chief Jason Harper and Jeff Little, Port Moody’s manager of operations, said as boulevards are free to be landscaped and maintained by adjacent property owners, fire hydrants located there can become obscured or inaccessible by landscape construction, the accumulation of materials or even overgrown vegetation.
The authors said while the city is responsible for keeping fire hydrants clear on its property and private property owners have a similar duty of care if there’s a hydrant on their property, such requirements aren’t included in Port Moody’s sidewalk and boulevard maintenance bylaw even though "hydrants are commonly located in boulevard areas."
Harper and Little said hydrants must be kept clearly visible from the road in any direction and access to them must be free of obstructions or hazards.
Failure to do so could result in fines of $100 for a first offence, $250 for a second offence and $500 for subsequent violations.
And if the hydrant still isn’t cleared, the city will do the work and recover its costs from the property owner.
