The one-time owner of the Packrat Palace is at odds with City Hall once again.
City communications director Mike Davis said Wednesday a stop work order will be issued to Mike Reimer to shut down work he began in October next to a burned out home in the Sunrise Valley Mobile Home Park.
Reimer previously gained notoriety after complaints about his hoarding at his previous home on Fisk Avenue. When his collection started to spill out onto his carport, Reimer ended up on the losing end of a court battle in which the judge gave the City permission to remove the items.
Reimer has since sold the home and is renting an apartment. And in the search for a more permanent home, he came across an opportunity at the mobile home park on Lansdowne Road.
However, the home was gutted in a June 12 fire but remains standing. While Reimer plans to renovate and expand the structure, he has built a shed to one side to store his tools.
But between the construction work and the remains of the burned out home, it's currently an unsightly mess that has blocked the view of the river for some neighbours. And when word got out that the guy who used to own the Packrat Palace was behind the project, one of the neighbours anonymously tipped The Citizen.
When a photo was sent along to City Hall on Wednesday, staff did some checking and learned no building permit had been issued for the work.
"Further, the size of the addition appears to require a building permit," Davis said. "A stop work order will be issued as soon as possible."
But Reimer maintained he went to City Hall before he started the work to make sure he is following procedure and claimed he was told there were no problems.
It appears that what progress Reimer had made was going to be put on hiatus anyway.
Reached Wednesday, Reimer said the project has been put on hold while he battles with the Ministry of Social Services to regain his disability benefits, which have been cut off, while also figuring out what to do after receiving an eviction notice from his landlord.
Reimer said he had planned to live in the shed but is now looking at the shelters for a place to stay.
Reimer said he sold his home for about $159,000 but added that to keep receiving disability benefits, all the money must go into a new home. He also said the City paid out about $9,000 to him for the items they removed from the Fisk Avenue home.
He said he is on benefits because he suffers from clinical depression and chronic fatigue. Asked why he is nonetheless capable of undertaking the construction project, Reimer said he's been doing well.
"Actually, once I'd got it built, I felt I probably would be looking for a part-time job," Reimer said.
Park manager Kelly Phelps defended Reimer, stressing that all the work is on his own property. "He's just building onto the frame of the trailer," she said.
