Despite its long reach into private yards and gardens, a new City pesticide bylaw taking effect Monday is unlikely to have a major impact on residential property owners.

Approved last summer after years of consideration and debate, the bylaw follows in the path of other Canadian municipalities, banning use of cosmetic pesticides on lawns, flowers, shrubs or ornamental trees by anyone other than a licensed commercial applicator.

But don’t expect City bylaw officers to be patrolling at dawn or dusk in search of residents with Weed ‘n’ Feed or Roundup in hand.

The bylaw is designed to encourage compliance rather than require enforcement, said Coun. John O’Fee. A similar bylaw enacted back East resulted in only two tickets for infractions, he noted.

“It works darned good but there’s no practical way for enforcement,” he said.

Since the Kamloops bylaw was enacted, Quebec and Ontario both banned products that are essentially cosmetic, he noted. That has had the effect of increasing the range of organics and natural products available.

O’Fee said a more effective response to concerns about cosmetic pesticides would be to ban their retail sale. That could only happen if the province assumed regulatory responsibility rather than the federal government.

“The ultimate solutions are to control the product and educate the public,” he said. “But you have to be honest with people. This bylaw is a bit more symbolic than it is practical.”

The commercial industry is not sure what impact the new rules might have on their business. They certainly didn’t want the bylaw for business’ sake, said Jacquie Doherty, co-owner of Grassroots Lawn Care.

“To be honest, I don’t know what to expect,” Doherty said. “The bylaw is in place but we don’t know how many residents are aware of it and the products are still available. I don’t know how this will play out, quite frankly.”

Managing their customer base under the new rules is challenging enough, although they are accepting new business, she said.

“A lot of (residents) know what they’re doing and they’re not impressed with the fact that the City says they can’t do that.”

While the industry may experience an increase in business, that isn’t the case with Bugs-Gon Pest Control, said general manager Tom Broad. The company isn’t accepting new clients.

“We’re already running out of capacity, and that’s a choice for our particular company,” Broad said. “There may be other companies that benefit from a flood in the market.”

Bugs-Gon has been adapting to the province’s Integrated Pest Management Act, and it’s chosen to pursue quality over quantity, Broad said.

“It requires a lot more record-keeping. There’s a lot more time spent in the yard before going out and doing applications.”

The only change he expects is having to ensure proper notices are posted when ornamental trees are sprayed. Any professionals applying pesticides would have to post notice 24 hours beforehand and leave the notice up for at least 48 hours after spraying.

For homeowners there are alternatives to higher-risk chemical pesticides. These can be learned through the plant health and pest management education program offered by the City.

Regulations for commercial pesticide application are tighter under the bylaw. Notices must be posted 24 hours prior to application remain in place for at least 48 hours.

Exceptions to the bylaw: excluded pesticides (a list is available at www.kamloops.ca/ipm); fruit trees and vegetable gardens; agricultural land and farms; greenhouses; noxious weeds and insects (as defined in the bylaw); hard landscapes (patios and sidewalks); controlling mosquitoes and other pests that transmit human disease; and pets that impact commercial forestry.

myouds@kamloopsnews.ca