Illegal dumping on private land in Greely irks neighbours

Most days, Jen Hanna walks her dog Zuko along a gravel road that runs through private land in the rural community of Greely in south Ottawa.

But the walk isn't always picturesque.

"I just see trash constantly, which is really upsetting because there's a lot of beautiful wildlife in that area," said Hanna, 32, who's lived nearby with her partner for the last eight years.

"Even if I wanted to clean it up, I would fill up a bag without even moving five feet."

The narrow gravel road runs from Old Prescott Road through an undeveloped piece of land to the west, connecting two residential neighbourhoods.

This recent Facebook post in a neighbourhood group highlighted the problem. (Facebook)

"At one point there was even a little camper trailer that was parked at the end of the road and there was just crap everywhere all over the road, from people's garbage to construction garbage, even an old giant carpet out there," she said.

"It feels like people are emptying their trucks."

Neighbours have been posting about the mess on a local Facebook page, often tagging the area's city councillor George Darouze to suggest he step in to somehow rectify the problem. Hanna has also messaged Darouze directly on Facebook.

But in an emailed statement to CBC, Darouze suggested those messages haven't been getting through.

"Facebook is not a platform that my office monitors for service requests and case work," he wrote. "When residents want to report a concern, it is extremely important to make these through official channels such as 311 or by contacting my office directly by phone or email."

Another of Hanna's photos from a recent walk on a gravel road in Greely. (Jen Hanna)

Owner has taken action

Documents show large swaths of the area are owned by Lakeland Meadows Ltd. Lakeland Meadows is also the name of a new subdivision in Greely.

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In an emailed statement to CBC via his assistant, Andrew Cinnamon, who's listed on provincial documents as a company director, said Lakeland Meadows is aware of the issue.

"Over the years since acquiring the property, Lakeland Meadows has suffered from neighbours and locals dumping on the property," reads the email.

"[Cinnamon] notified City of Ottawa By-Law on several occasions requesting enforcement to step in, and has cleaned the illegal dumping up many different times himself at his own personal cost, and that of the company."

The email goes on to say Cinnamon installed gates at the end of the road in an attempt to block vehicle traffic, but admitted he hadn't been to the property lately.

Jen Hanna and her dog (Submitted by Jen Hanna)

It's illegal to dump garbage on public or private property in Ottawa. Fines for littering start at $500.

According to the city, however, the bylaw department has not received any calls for service in the undeveloped land west of Old Prescott Road.

"If an investigation into illegal dumping is unable to identify who committed the act, staff in Roads and Parking Services are available to assist our colleagues in By-law and Regulatory Services (BLRS) with cleaning up any abandoned waste on city property," said Quentin Levesque, director of roads and parking services.

"Any waste illegally dumped on private property would ultimately be the responsibility of the property owner to clean up," said Levesque. "If an offending party is identified, however, those who illegally dumped the waste will be responsible for properly addressing the issue."