Numerous letters have come into The Times in the past two weeks about the Township’s RV storage bylaw.

The bylaw does not permit people to park their RVs in their driveways or front yards. Instead, they are to be in side or back yards. A number of complaints have been made to Township bylaw officials, and several tickets have been issued.

The matter has come up at Township council on several occasions as well.

Without getting into the specifics of the bylaw, it is important to take a step back from this situation and consider a couple of basic questions.

One is whether a bylaw is really needed to deal with such an issue. As one of our letter writers notes, RVs are people’s private property. At what point should any government be telling people what to do with their property — particularly if it is safely stored on their own land?

Perhaps the most fundamental question about this and other Township bylaws, and the chosen method for enforcement, is this: What good do they do? Township bylaws are not enforced by bylaw officials unless there is a complaint. Thus bylaws such as this one become weapons in neighbourhood disputes that often have little to do with the subject of the bylaw.

A letter writer whose letter was published Friday noted that he opposes the parking of RVs on his neighbours’ lots and the street. Because he has made his viewpoint clear, he was harassed by neighbours after there was enforcement of the bylaw on his street — even though it was other neighbours who called the Township about the issue.

Is it really worthwhile in the building of a community fabric to have bylaws that set neighbour against neighbour, and particularly when the issues are of a minor nature?

There are numerous Township bylaws covering very routine items. Is it necessary to have so many of these bylaws on the books? If it is, should enforcement not be done on a more even-handed basis, rather than simply having officials respond to complaints?

As long as there are people in this world, there will be disputes among neighbours, family members and, on occasion, members of an elected council.

The best way to solve such disputes is with some open dialogue and generosity of spirit. If such an approach is taken, there is little need for punitive bylaws.