Seymour and Doyle cross swords over illegal deck

By Mark Squibb / June 2, 2023

A motion at last week’s public meeting to order a resident to remove a deck built without a permit passed with little discussion at council initially but landed with a bang later when councillor Malcolm Seymour circled back to it.

“Why did we let him put the deck in there in the beginning?” asked Seymour.

“We didn’t let him put the deck there. He built the deck without the permit,” explained councillor Danielle Doyle.

“But that’s what I’m trying to say,” said Seymour. “We should have stopped that process before we got to this process.”

Doyle said the file has been active for over a year-and-a-half, and staff wrote multiple letters to the individual requesting he comply with the Town’s standards.

She said it’s unfortunate the Town had to issue the order, and noted there is an extensive process that unfolds before that happens.

“If you build something that’s not in compliance, you don’t just get an automatic order to tear it down,” said Doyle. “You get reminders, letters, phone calls, visits — there’s a process.”

Seymour said that he understood that, but in the future would like to see such problems addressed sooner.

“We want to make sure that before that deck is put in place, we go through this process so that it doesn’t get put there,” said Seymour.

Doyle said the onus is on the homeowner to apply for the permit, to which Seymour countered there’s also an onus of responsibility on the Town’s municipal enforcement officer.

“I don’t think you can place all of that on a municipal enforcement officer,” said Doyle. “If you’re doing work at your house, you as the homeowner, the onus is on you to make sure that you have the appropriate permit from council.”

Seymour said the officer shouldn’t have “let this go this far.”

Councillor Chris O’Grady argued Seymour’s point.

“He can’t be in all places at all times,” said O’Grady. “Things get built on the weekends… And things get built in behind people’s houses. Someone could build a deck and he would never find out it was there. I’m not saying this is the case here, but again, he can’t be in all places at all times.”

Doyle said Town staff went “above and beyond” trying to help this applicant.

“And the amount of human resources some of these situations take up, I mean, we spend hours every second week talking about some of these same things over and over for two and three years on end. And that’s because we go through the process — you get a call, you get a visit, you get a letter, you get a reminder letter. The order is the last resort, and unfortunately it has to go there for some residents.”

Seymour persisted in arguing staff should have acted more quickly.

Doyle asked if he was suggesting the Town scrap the process of giving folks second and third chances to get their permits in order.

Seymour questioned whether that process actually takes a year-and-a-half, and Doyle said indeed sometimes it does.

Councillor Ray Noel said he understands both sides of the story, but town staff made every effort to address the issue as it was developing.

“Unfortunately, not everybody complies with the expectations that we have,” said Noel. “Even though we reach out and go beyond, as councillor O’Grady pointed out, people do it on the evenings, on the weekends, trying to hide it away.”

He noted council has started the process of drafting a new town plan, and asked when that new plan will be ready to be implemented.

“Because, if someone is considering building, say, a green house now, they may not comply right now, but if they could hold off for a period of time, they may be able to build their green house a little bigger or a little closer,” said Noel.

Doyle said greenhouses were one of the items that caused council to re-consider the town plan in the first place, as so many people requested permits to build greenhouses during the thick of the pandemic.

The new town plan, according to the mayor and town staff, will be presented to the public in the spring of 2024.

Deputy Mayor Sam Slade recalled that years back the Town had to readjust its regulations regarding sheds, and that residents were pleased with the changes, which allowed for larger sheds.

Doyle circled back to the matter at hand —the removal order — for a final word on the matter.

“If people came in, and got the permit, and filled it out, and paid their fee, it would have saved the development committee hours upon hours upon hours upon hours of time and manpower here in the office.”