The other side to the wall issue.

Jasmine Drive resident Ken Nelmes said he regrets that the issue surrounding his retaining wall is going to court, but also said he feels the Town of Osoyoos backed out of a possible negotiation to see the matter be resolved another way.
Neighbours first spoke to the Osoyoos Times last spring, to complain about the appearance of Nelmes' large retaining wall, which at the time included a display of bicycles hanging along it. Moreover, they expressed concerns about the safety of the wall and the fact that it protruded onto town property.
Mayor John Slater noted back in June that the town was negotiating with Nelmes to come up with a fair solution between him and the rest of the neighbourhood.
Nelmes said he was looking into the possibility of entering into an encroachment agreement with the town, but that the town rescinded that offer and then advised Nelmes they were instructing their lawyers to take the matter to court.
Nelmes showed the Osoyoos Times a copy of a letter from his lawyer, who has been trying to negotiate a resolution.
The letter stated, in part, that the Town of Osoyoos instructed their lawyers to inform Nelmes' lawyer that, in order to resolve this matter, [Nelmes] must pay the town's full legal fees and disbursements for the Supreme Court proceeding they have commenced. Only then will they agree to a negotiated settlement where the encroachment is regularized legally.
Nelmes was stunned by this condition, essentially calling it blackmail.
I was willing, and wanted, to negotiate. Mayor Slater said there would be a meeting to try to resolve this, but that meeting never happened. Then instead of arranging to meet, he blackmails me by saying in order to discuss this further, I would have to pay all the town's legal fees, Nelmes said.
It is worth noting that Town of Osoyoos engineer T.R. Underwood, of True Consulting Group, stated in a letter dated February 16, 2005, that:
The retaining wall which is the subject of your referral encroaches an average of 2.5 metres into the right of way of Jasmine Drive.
From a servicing and future road upgrading perspective, the retaining wall encroachment does not in my opinion represent a significant constraint. The Jasmine right of way is 20 metres, therefore the available width reduces to 17.5 metres with the wall encroachment.rnUnderwood went on to point out that retaining wall encroachments on neighbouring lots would appear to represent more significant challenges to future upgrading of Jasmine Drive than Nelmes' wall.
He added that perhaps Nelmes could work with the town to improve the aesthetic appearance of the wall.
There is also some question as to Nelmes' application for a building permit. When the Osoyoos Times first covered this issue back in June 2005, Mayor John Slater made the comment that, if Nelmes had applied for a permit, we would have realized through the site plan the wall was not on his property and the building department would have notified the owner that he needed to move it in by several feet.rnHowever, Nelmes provided the Osoyoos Times with a copy of a permit application for his retaining wall dated May 21, 2004.
The Osoyoos Times contacted both Mayor John Slater and building inspector Dennis Tomlin for their comments on the permit application. Tomlin did not respond by press time, but Slater clarified his earlier statement about the permit. Slater said Nelmes did indeed apply for a permit but it was incomplete.
It did not have engineered drawings or a report and it was also missing some schedules. When Dennis went over to see Nelmes, the wall was already built, Slater said.
So I stand by my original statement that if a building permit was applied for prior to construction, complete with all the schedules, the permit would only have been issued if the wall was built according to our bylaws, including having to build it on his property. A survey was done showing the wall was built on town property and that's where it ended.
As for the town rescinding the offer to negotiate, Slater said that the pre-trial hearing was set for January 9 and he felt it was inappropriate to comment further.
Nelmes' lawyer filed a response and a notice of motion to the town's petition to the court on January 5, 2006.
Not surprisingly, Nelmes disagrees with a number of statements made by Mayor Slater.
First of all, Tomlin saw the wall. He was on the job site as the wall was being constructed. He could have put a stop permit on it at any time. Tomlin also had the engineer's report and the plans, said Nelmes.
Nelmes said he is essentially looking for fairness and consideration from the town, adding that there are at least 60 other retaining walls on town property in Osoyoos.
Is the town going after everyone encroaching on town land? Is it just the bikes? If I had been approached about the bikes, I would have removed them in a heartbeat.rnHe added that three of the bikes were donated to him by residents on Jasmine Drive.
My question to the town is, if you are going to get me, then are you going to go after the other property owners, as well? Nelmes asked.