If an area qualifies for a noise wall, a formal petition will be prepared by the City and mailed to the benefitting property owners. The City may hold a public meeting to educate the benefiting homeowners on the local improvement process. The formal petition will include the noise study findings, approximate location of the noise wall and a cost estimate for the proposed noise wall.
To be successful, a formal petition requires that at least two-third’s of the benefiting property owners must sign in favour of the noise wall and collectively represent at least 50% of the assessed property value. Where two or more persons are jointly assessed for a lot, they collectively shall be treated as one owner only and a majority of them must sign for the petition for the signatures to be considered.
A successful formal petition for a noise wall will result in a charge being added to each property owner's tax bill for their share of the noise wall installation costs, regardless of whether that property owner supported the petition or not.
In the event that the formal petition is unsuccessful, new requests in the same area will be subject to a minimum waiting period of two (2) years from the date that the formal petition was declared unsuccessful.