Milton’s Craziest Town Bylaws
Published March 12, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Bylaws are those rules set out in city or town by your local government as to what is allowed, not allowed and how you can do certain activities.
Bylaws are those rules set out in city or town by your local government as to what is allowed, not allowed and how you can do certain activities. They oversee everything from what residents do and how businesses conduct themselves in the municipality.
Society needs rules and regulations, but sometimes bylaws can sound rather peculiar. What inhalton.com has defined as ‘crazy’ is not so much that the law exists, but sometimes that such a law needed to be on the books at all.
Here are some of the more interesting bylaws in the Town of Milton.
The Town of Milton has some rather graphically specific descriptions of what constitutes as “sexual activity” that occur inside adult entertainment establishments. Such activities are defined as one of the following:
Videos
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Actual or simulated sexual intercourse.
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Masturbation, urination, defecation, ejaculation.
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Sodomy, including bestiality, anal intercourse and oral sexual intercourse.
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Direct physical stimulation of clothed or unclothed specific body areas.
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Flagellation, mutilation, maiming, murder or torture in the context of a sexual relationship or activity.
The guidelines on signage for adult entertainment venues under the bylaw are also interesting, at least in regards to how signs are allowed to be presented:
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No person shall include pictorial or symbolic representation of specific body areas, and/or specified sexual activities on exterior signs and advertisements relating to an Adult Entertainment Establishment.
Even adult clubs in Mississauga and Brampton are rather obscure in their signage; just the name and notice if it was wings night on Tuesdays. No pictures, although the Zanzibar in the downtown Yonge and Dundas area is quite visibly a strip club.
Lotteries and gambling institutions are what they are, but sometimes charities want to set up a friendly bingo game to raise money. Therefore, there is a provision in the bylaw that allows Milton Town Council to issue charities a license to conduct and manage the following types of lottery schemes:
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A bingo lottery event where the amount or value of the prizes awarded is no greater than $5,500.00 in value.
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A raffle lottery event where the amount or value of the prizes awarded does not exceed a total value of $50,000.
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A break open ticket lottery event up to 1 year to be conducted within the geographical boundaries of Milton, other than a break open ticket lottery event which is managed and conducted in conjunction with another licensed gaming even.
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A bazaar lottery event during which the only lottery events authorized to be played are: a maximum of three 3 wheels of fortune where individual bets are no more than $2.00; a raffle lottery not exceeding $500.00 in prizes; a bingo lottery not exceeding $500.00 in prizes.
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A media bingo lottery event conducted on or through television, radio, newspaper or other means of communication where the amount or value of the prizes awarded is no greater than $5,500.00.
The other condition for the allowance of these charity lottery schemes is if the proceeds from are used for a charitable or religious object providing a direct benefit to Ontario residents.
Street Name Corrections
Did you know, at least in Milton, if you need to correct the spelling of a street name, you need a bylaw to do it?
A bylaw was passed last March to rename Toletza Landing to “Toletzka Landing”.
It’s probably a good idea to have changes like this confirmed in writing, but it seems a bit silly considering it was only one letter. Somebody better tell Google Maps they need to be updated on Milton’s by-law though, a quick check reveals that they are still spelling it as “Toletza”.
You can find the rest of Milton’s bylaws in this link.
Can you think of any rules and regulations the town has that you find particularly interesting?
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