OSOYOOS TIMES-July 8, 2009
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
Good fences might make good neighbours, but the fences on Finch Crescent haven’t helped matters for neighbours who want the Good Shepherd Christian School to get out.
“None of the neighbours believe there is a resolution, except for them to move,” said Sharon Laybourne, who appeared as a delegation with her husband, Roy, at the July 6 council meeting.
“They (the school) can’t function without breaking the law.”
The school, which is run by the Grace Lutheran Church, has been operating at 6 Finch Cres. for almost 20 years.
But the Laybournes said the land is zoned R1, which is single family residential, and there shouldn’t be a school there.
Melvin Kilback, chairman of the board that runs the school, said the Laybournes moved into the home across from the school within the last two years.
“We’ve never had an issue with any (neighbours) until the Laybournes,” Kilback said, adding that churches are allowed in R1 zones, and council approved the location for a school on the property in 1990.
Angela Westcott, the school’s principal, has been on staff for nine years and said there was one other issue several years back, when parents parked in front of a neighbour’s driveway.
She said letters went home, informing parents it is a bylaw infraction to block driveways and the problem was solved.
Kilback said the current issues started last September when Sharon Laybourne started to complain about noise coming from the playground.
“She called and said the kids are out of control and making too much noise,” Kilback said. “That it can’t be a Christian school because the kids are too loud.”
He claims Sharon stands on the street and yells at parents when they drop their children off, videotapes students and if balls cross into her yard, she picks them up and takes them into the house.
The Laybournes said the church yard is used as a playground, instead of a parking lot.
That means an increase in street parking – and that’s only the start of their complaints.
Roy told council they have been trying to find a solution with the school for a year-and-a-half and the situation has turned sour.
He is now claiming he and his family are being yelled at, insulted, bullied and flashed by the students.
He said on June 12 one of the students threw a rock at their house.
They set up a camera and now claim the school set up their own camera and pointed it at the Laybournes’ bedroom window.
But the bottom line, to the neighbours, is that the school has outgrown the location, is breaking bylaws and should be made to move.
Letters to the Town from at least four other neighbours support the suggestion that the school has outgrown the neighbourhood.
Kilback said that one of the students did throw a rock toward the home and it landed on the driveway.
They have identified the student and the issue is in the hands of RCMP.
He also said the Town’s bylaw enforcement officers have repeatedly been out to the school and have confirmed that no bylaws are currently being broken.
“All issues with the Town have been solved,” Kilback said, adding at no time did the school videotape the Laybournes’ house.
Kilback also said they tried to meet with the Town and the RCMP.
“The Laybournes refused to show up.”
Mayor Stu Wells pointed out that while this has obviously been an issue for some time, it is the first council has heard about it.
“These allegations are unsettling in your neighbourhood and in our little town,” Wells said. “We’re obviously going to have to do some research.”
Barry Romanko, the Town’s chief administrative officer, said the soonest they could prepare a staff report would be for the Aug. 17 committee of the whole meeting. Also, the report could only encompass land-use issues and none of the criminal or civil complaints.
The school had 44 students registered last year and is licensed to teach children from kindergarten through Grade 7.
Kilback confirmed they are pursuing a move to a larger location near Osoyoos Secondary School.
