Main street building owner Gilbert Beaudry returned to Lake Cowichan town council Dec. 18, in the hope that, with a new group in place, he can find a solution to his problems.
Beaudry bought 87/89 South Shore Rd., which in addition to offering a couple of business frontages, included three illegal suites in the basement at the back.
He first encountered problems when Lake Cowichan council decided in July 2017 that it will no longer turn a blind eye to construction done without a building permit.
That decision forced seven renters in three suites at 87/89 South Shore Rd. out of their homes.
Beaudry and council were forced to deal with a complicated situation. What was at issue is, in formal language, a “failure to comply with building and zoning requirements and the construction of habitable living quarters without building permits.”
Rental suites were built without zoning or permit by a previous owner of the property — Lot A, Plan 29793 in Lake Cowichan — and town council voted in 2017 to register a notice on the land title against the property “for zoning and building bylaw infractions.”
Lk Cow council on Beaudry property
Beaudry accused the 2017 council of not being helpful. “You are trying to penalize for the past and don’t want to move to the future.”
Eventually, the vote was called, and the majority of council voted in favour of placing a notice on the title of the property. Only Lorna Vomacka voted against it.
But, Beaudry was back Dec. 18, 2018 to talk about removing that notice.
Coun. Kristine Sandhu kicked off discussion with a motion: “That the town of Lake Cowichan give Mr. Beaudry up to 60 days to comply with the building and bylaw infractions on his property, at which time, staff can deal with the removal of the note on title.”
Coun. Tim McGonigle asked, “That means the note is coming off?”
Sandhu said, “That would give him 60 days to work with the building inspector and do what needs to be done. And then that could be reviewed after 60 days, and if that follows through then that note could be removed.”
Beaudry then spoke up. He reiterated some of the comments he made in 2017 when he last brought his problem to council, adding, “Nobody knows what was there before. Why should I take down the walls if it was there before?”
Coun. Carolyne Austin said she worked in that building in the 1980s and remembers that “there was nothing down there but storage”.
Vomacka said, “this has been at the table for a year and a half. We know the history, that there were no legal suites there. We, as a former council, said that Mr. Beaudry had to remove everything back to the bare walls and then come back for the proper permit and have it approved. Mr. Beaudry has not taken them back to the bare walls. Now, I understand there is something to do with the flood plain which makes it impossible for him to tear everything out and put in three suites.”
Lake Cowichan CAO Joe Fernandez said that as that area is five and a half feet under the 200-year flood plain level, it would be impossible to put in residential there now.
Beaudry called this “ridiculous”.
Mayor Rod Peters asked, “Would that not make just about everything in our downtown core illegal? Because it’s below the flood plain level?”
Fernandez reminded him that “homes with building permits are grandfathered” but that at this property “there were no building permits taken out, and obviously, nothing new will be permitted.”
This put a whole new face on the problem. But it was determined that a commercial operation could be carried out in the lower space, with appropriate property zoning in place.
Beaudry was urged to work with the town’s building inspector and other staff to determine the best way to go forward.
He however, was not pleased. “I’m getting screwed around here, trying to keep everybody happy,” he said.
McGonigle also moved an amendment to the motion that a restrictive covenant be placed on 87/89 South Shore stating that there will be no residential suites in the basement.
“The idea is to come forward again with a rezoning application for the upper portion for the residential part. The intent is to remove the note on property of those residences and move forward with them being only commercial,” he suggested.
Fernandez, said that, in his opinion the note on title should be a separate item altogether.
“That way you remove the note or you don’t remove the note. It could stay on until staff recommendations are taken care of. I do agree that a covenant on the bottom floor makes sense,” he said.
Council agreed with McGonigle’s addition, and Sandhu’s original motion.
Beaudry, visibly frustrated, said that the information about the flood plain had never even been suggested to him, and that, if he had known, he would have looked differently at what property he bought in Lake Cowichan.
Peters wanted to see Beaudry get to meet with the building inspector and fire marshall “post haste, I mean right now! And see what their thoughts are and get a report back to us. They can come up with something that will be congenial to all and we’ll get that note taken off as soon as possible.”
McGonigle interjected: “We’ll discuss taking it off.”
Peters agreed, and then told Beaudry, “We’re trying to be business friendly in this town and you’ve been jacked around enough.”
lexi.bainas@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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