Good fences make good neighbours, but good fence rules make better neighbours, an Alberta MLA hopes.
Since 1980 in Alberta, landowners on both sides of the fence were supposed to share equally in the cost of building and maintaining a fence on property.
But as fences got bigger to hold deer, elk or wild boar, some farmers felt their neighbours should share the cost of their high-priced fence, said Hector Goudreau.
“There was pressure to do that,” said Goudreau, who is introducing changes to the Line Fence Act.
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The changes will make the person who benefits the most pay the higher portion of the cost of fencing.
The act was also increasingly being cited in cities by homeowners who wanted the city to pay for part of a fence between a homeowner and park or school grounds.
The changes will clarify that the act is only for rural situations. Urban municipalities can have their own bylaws to deal with fences.
“The amendments to the Line Fence Act are very minimal but it clarifies it,” said Goudreau, who added that the act would resolve disputes.
The act has passed second reading and will proceed to the committee as a whole and will likely be passed by spring.
