---
title: Gold River unsightly property rules and how to report
question: "How do I report an unsightly or overgrown property in Gold River?"
place: Gold River, British Columbia, Canada
place_path: ca/bc/gold-river
category: Bylaws, noise and complaints
owner: municipal
owner_body: Village of Gold River
sources_read: 2026-11-08
review: machine_checked
canonical: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/gold-river/unsightly-property/"
json: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/gold-river/unsightly-property.json"
---

# Gold River unsightly property rules and how to report

**Question:** How do I report an unsightly or overgrown property in Gold River?

**Short answer:** In Gold River, report an unsightly property to the Village verbally or in writing, with your phone number and street address. A Bylaw Enforcement Officer inspects, and Council decides whether to order a clean-up. Complaints are answered if you live or own property within 300 metres.

**Who handles it:** Municipal (Village of Gold River, https://goldriver.ca)  
**Cost:** If the Village cleans up, costs plus a $500 processing fee are invoiced to the owner. Ticket amount not readable in the Village's posted bylaws.  
**How long:** The owner has ten days to clean up after Council resolves to enforce.  
**Where:**
- Phone: Village Hall, (250) 283-2202

## Key facts

- **What counts:** An owner or occupier must not let property become or remain 'unsightly'. That includes accumulated filth, discarded materials or rubbish; heavy construction equipment on a site not zoned for it; materials strewn about rather than neatly piled; dead, overgrown or damaged landscaping; and a building showing holes, rot, peeling or rusting. Unlicensed, unused or stripped vehicles, trailers, boats and machinery count as rubbish. No one may let rubbish or noxious matter collect on or around real property.
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 4.1](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "No owner or occupier of real property shall allow his or her property to become or remain" … "unsightly as defined within this Bylaw."
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 2.1 "Unsightly"](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "the accumulation of filth, discarded materials or rubbish of any kind" … "landscaping that is dead, characterized by excessive growth or lack of maintenance"
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 2.1 "Filth, Discarded Materials or Rubbish"](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "unlicensed, unused or stripped automobiles,"
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 3.1](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "No person shall cause or permit water, rubbish or noxious, offensive or unwholesome matter to"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08
- **How to report:** Complain verbally or in writing to the Village. A complaint must come with a valid phone number and street address of the complainant (kept confidential). The Bylaw Enforcement Officer responds to complaints from occupiers or owners living or owning property within 300 metres of the alleged violation.
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, Sched. A s. 1-3](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "Upon receipt of a complaint (either verbal or written)" … "Complaints must be accompanied by a valid phone number and street address of the complainant." … "within 300 meters of the alleged violation."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08
- **What happens next:** The Bylaw Enforcement Officer inspects. If staff pursue it, the owner and any occupier are told in writing at least ten days before the Council meeting that will consider enforcement. If Council resolves to enforce, the owner has ten days to clean up; otherwise Village staff or a contractor clean up and the costs, including a $500 processing fee, are invoiced. Unpaid costs are added to the property taxes.
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, Sched. A s. 4](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "shall advise the registered owner and any occupier of the property in writing at least" … "ten days before the Council meeting"
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, Sched. A s. 9](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "the owner has ten days to clean up the property;"
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, Sched. A s. 11](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "Any expenses incurred, including the" … "$500.00 processing fee"
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 4.3](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "the costs shall be added to and form part of the taxes on that real property as taxes in arrears."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08
- **Fine:** Not confirmed. The bylaw that now sets the penalties is a scanned PDF that could not be read.
- **Bylaw:** Village of Gold River Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008 (amended by Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022)
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008, s. 1.1](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "This bylaw may be cited as the "Village of Gold River Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008."
  - Source: [Unsightly Premise Amendment Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666.1-2022-Unsightly-Premise-Amendment.pdf)
  - Official wording: "Unsightly Premise Amendment Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08

## How it works

Under the [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf), an owner or occupier must not let property become or remain "unsightly", and no one may let rubbish or noxious matter collect on or around real property. Gold River's bylaw counts as unsightly: accumulated filth, discarded materials or rubbish; heavy construction equipment on a site not zoned for it; materials strewn about rather than neatly piled; dead, overgrown or damaged landscaping; and a building showing holes, rot, peeling or rusting. Unlicensed, unused or stripped vehicles, trailers, boats and machinery count as rubbish.

## Steps

1. Complain to the Village, verbally or in writing. Give a valid phone number and your street address (kept confidential). The Village's pages give no complaint form or email; call Village Hall at (250) 283-2202.
2. A Bylaw Enforcement Officer inspects. Complaints are answered if the complainant lives or owns property within 300 metres of the alleged violation.
3. If staff pursue it, the owner and any occupier are told in writing at least ten days before the Council meeting that will consider enforcement.
4. If Council resolves to enforce, the owner has ten days to clean up. Otherwise Village staff or a contractor clean up.

## Good to know

- The Village invoices the clean-up costs, including a $500 processing fee. Unpaid costs are added to the property taxes.
- Amendment [Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666.1-2022-Unsightly-Premise-Amendment.pdf) removed the bylaw's own penalty table and says penalties are in Bylaw Notice Enforcement Bylaw No. 737, 2022. That bylaw is a scanned PDF with no readable text, so the ticket amount is not given here.

## Official forms and pages

- [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008 (PDF)](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf)
- [Unsightly Premise Amendment Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022 (PDF)](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666.1-2022-Unsightly-Premise-Amendment.pdf)

## Related questions

- [Gold River noise bylaw: quiet hours, construction hours and fines](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/gold-river/noise-rules.md)
- [Gold River RV, boat and trailer parking rules](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/gold-river/rv-boat-trailer-parking.md)

## The same question elsewhere

- [Unsightly property fines in British Columbia, by municipality](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/unsightly-property.md)
- [Tahsis](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/tahsis/unsightly-property.md)
- [Zeballos](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/zeballos/unsightly-property.md)
- [Campbell River](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/campbell-river/unsightly-property.md)
- [Tofino](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/tofino/unsightly-property.md)
- [Sayward](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/sayward/unsightly-property.md)
- [Cumberland](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/cumberland/unsightly-property.md)

## Sources

- [Unsightly Premise Bylaw No. 666, 2008 (PDF), Village of Gold River](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666-2008-Unsightly-Premise-Bylaw.pdf) (read 2026-11-08)
- [Unsightly Premise Amendment Bylaw No. 666.1, 2022 (PDF), Village of Gold River](https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bylaw-No-666.1-2022-Unsightly-Premise-Amendment.pdf) (read 2026-11-08)

_Checked by script, not yet by a person: the official wording behind 4 of 5 facts was matched to the official text; 1 could not be confirmed. Gov Handbook is an independent guide, not affiliated with Village of Gold River. How answers are checked: https://govhandbook.com/methods/ · Canonical page: https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/gold-river/unsightly-property/_