The board of directors for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George gave permission for staff to solicit bids for the removal of dozens of derelict cars on property in the Pineview areas as the property owner’s deadline to deal with the situation approaches.
As previously reported by The Citizen, the regional district was granted an injunction back in March to force Thomas Stander of 8570 Chilcotin Rd. to clean up the more than 100 vehicles stored on his five-acre property.
Justice Kenneth Ball’s verdict said the regional district had tried to get Stander, as well as Stander’s father before him, to deal with violations of both the zoning bylaw and the unsightly premises bylaw.
He was given 90 days to remove items violating the bylaws included mechanical and metal parts as well as all his motor vehicles except for 10 of them. Should he not meet the deadline, the district has the authorized to remove the materials at Stander’s cost.
When The Citizen interviewed Stander in April, he said seasonal load restrictions on nearby roads were making it difficult to get scrap dealers and tow trucks to remove items from his property.
At the regional district’s Thursday, May 22 board of directors meeting, administration asked for permission to open a competitive bidding process to find a contractor to clean up the property.
A report issued by district staff said that complaints about the property had been received dating back to 1999 “with only some compliance being achieved.”
It also said that three separate bylaw enforcement officers had been working to deal with the property since 2018 and after seeing no improvements, legal action was pursued in December 2019.
The report is dated May 8, 2025 and said that by patrol observations had noted “there have been minimal attempts to clean up the property.”
“Considering the deadline date, the remaining number of items on the property and in order to not delay process, the board is being asked to consider entering into a competitive bid process for the clean-up of 8570 Chilcotin Rd.”
Bylaw enforcement officer Corinne Hickman told the board that Stander had visited the regional district’s office earlier that day and said he had removed 10 vehicles from the property and was looking to remove another 10 during the upcoming weekend.
Hickman also said that Stander had told them that he had been approached by two metal recycling visits to assess the removal of other debris on the property.
Blaine Harasimiuk, the district’s manager of inspection services, said that through the cleanup process, the district would try to recover as many costs as possible “through the sale of scrap or if there are valuable vehicles, possibly getting an appraiser to evaluate that as well.”
“If we do end up recovering more than what it costs, that amount would go back to the homeowner,” Harasimiuk explained.
He said the sale of some of the vehicles, if it gets to that point, could be handled through a court bailiff. When staff and the contractor arrive on site, he said the policy would generally be to have the RCMP on site to gauge whether the property owner would obstruct their work.
Staff’s report also noted that that the potential cost of the cleanup is expected to be around $30,000 and that if costs are not fully recovered through the sale of scrap and valuable vehicles, the district has the option of requesting that the bill be applied to Stander’s next property tax bill or a future tax sale.
The motion approving the competitive bid process passed unanimously.
The Citizen has so far been unable to reach Stander for comment.
