The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George has given a Tete Jaune Cache property owner 90 days to get a building permit or demolish a substandard storage building being used as a house.
On Thursday, the district's board of directors approved a motion, allowing the district's bylaw officer to demolish and remove the building if the owner doesn't meet the deadline.
"These ones are tough ones," director Terri McConnachie said. "(But) it's just unsafe for someone to live in."
In 2015 the owner of three lots located at 11902 L’Heureux Road, backing onto Highway 16, received a permit to build a 512 sq. foot accessory building, according to a report to the regional district board on Thursday. But in March 2016 the building failed to pass a building inspection, and the owner was ordered to cease construction until an engineer's report was done showing the building was safe for use.
"It was approved for use as a storage building. (But) at two different times inspectors had reports of a person living in it," said Blaine Harasimiuk, district manager of inspection services and sustainability practices. "There is a potential there is a health and safety risk to the occupants."
A 2017 engineer's report found the building was built of untreated, rough-sawn lumber, sitting on six-by-six and eight-by-eight wooden beams directly on gravel, instead of a proper foundation. The report said the building could be used as a storage building in the short term, but would need a proper foundation installed within five years.
The regional district has been trying to get the owner to fix the issues and get the building up to code since 2016, Harasimiuk said. Building inspectors and the district's bylaw officer have delivered letters to the owner in 2018, 2019 and five times in 2020 informing him the building is not in compliance and what needs to be fixed, finally resulting in a legal demand letter sent in November 2020, giving the owner a deadline of Jan. 30, 2021 to fix the problems.
"We've been very open and accepting on the person coming in and helping them out," Harasimiuk said. "We would like the owner to obtain the permits and start working toward compliance."
The owner has refused to remedy the issues, and in 2019 built an addition to the building and installed a Quonset hut on the site without a building permit for either, he said. In an email in May 2020, the owner denied living in the building, saying he lived in a camper on the lot.
However, district inspectors have seen furniture in the building and smoke coming from its smokestack, along with other signs the building continues to be occupied. In earlier correspondence with the district, the owner described the building as his "sleeping shed."
"If this building was to fall over, and somebody gets hurt, does the regional district have any liability?" Director Joan Atkinson asked.
"We have consulted our legal counsel on this issue, and the simple answer is 'maybe,'" district bylaw officer Michael Tillmann said. "There have been cases where local governments have been sued for not enforcing their bylaws."
Director Dannielle Alan, who represents the Robson Valley including Tete Jaune Cache, said she was concerned the actions were excessive. There are many buildings in the district which were built without permits or don't comply with building code, and the district has simply registered that on the title, she said.
"It does seem to me to be a little bit heavy-handed," Alan said. "It looks like they are living a pretty precarious existence anyway."
Alan move an amendment to give the owner 90 days, instead of the 60 initially sought by district staff. She said she doesn't want to see the owner end up homeless after the building is demolished, either by the owner or the district.
"Eliminating homelessness is more than just putting a roof over someone's head," director Murry Krause said. "It has to be appropriate and safe."
