CSL poised to amend balcony BBQ bylaw, despite lingering concerns

At council's monthly meeting last week, a notice of motion was passed waiving the reading of a future amendment to bylaw 626, which regulates the installation, handling and storage of propane — a key issue in the matter.

Objections by some residents to the partial ban on balcony barbecueing — which some say has never been seriously enforced — started earlier this year, when city council said it would be revising the rules, 42 years after they were first enacted.

Mike Cuplowsky, a resident of a Marc Chagall Avenue condo building who has drawn attention to the issue, maintains that certain safety concerns cited as reasons for the prohibition — such as the transport of propane in building elevators — remain unfounded.

In an e-mail reply earlier this week to an inquiry from the Chronicle about the bylaw amendment, Mayor Anthony Housefather said, "As the City has stated from the outset, all that we will do is update the bylaw to conform to today's standards set by the federal government and apply them by reference, so if they change, the bylaw changes. "This means that, for example, you can not transport propane in a passenger elevator if other passengers are riding in it," he added. "There is not a substantive change to when and where you can barbeque, it sets the rules for how you can do so more safely."

But Councillor Glenn Nashen, who is public safety commissioner on council, has serious reservations about the amendment. In a statement he made in council last May, Nashen cited the opinion of Côte St. Luc's former fire chief, Frank Albert, who said open-flame barbecues on apartment or condo balconies are dangerous.

Asked whether he was satisfied that the proposed new rules would meet safety requirements, Nashen responded in an e-mail, "The short answer is no. While it is safer to have one person in an elevator with a propane tank than with five or ten other passengers, it would be safest not to allow BBQing on balconies altogether … "Fire ladders only go so high," he added. "While many BBQers will practice safe BBQing by not leaving the BBQ unattended, checking the valve and connections periodically for potentially dangerous leakage, keeping a safe distance from doors or windows, some will not. This is the biggest danger to other residents and property."

According to Councillor Mike Cohen, whose district includes many condominium buildings, the public works department conducted a survey among residential building dwellers to determine the amount of opposition and support to changing the barbecue bylaw. "It was a pretty mixed bag of opinions," he said. "We've had this bylaw for over 40 years. I don't believe personally that it's really been enforced. I don't believe that we have the staff to go around and enforce a bylaw like that. But I think the most important thing is that we keep it up to date and within the law that exists."