By Lyonel Doherty

Times-Chronicle

The Town of Oliver has been dealing with this property on Lakeside Road for 25 years. (Photo contributed)

It appears the Town of Oliver has had enough with a “hazardous” and “nuisance” property on Lakeside Road.

On Monday, council deliberated at length on seeking remedial action against a single-detached dwelling that has been undergoing construction for the past 25 years at 6569 Lakeside.

Randy Houle, director of development services, outlined several problems with the property. They include unfenced excavations and holes, no suitable external access for the house, loose piles of dirt (a potential hazard for children), unstable piles of construction material, and a lack of siding on both house and shed.

“Town staff is concerned that the above conditions create unsafe conditions or constitute a nuisance,” Houle said. “For years the property has been essentially an unfenced construction site.”

Houle said several letters have been sent to the property owner (Fred Percival Clyde Babiuk) to remedy the situation, and the Town’s building official has tried to work with him to complete the permits, but with no success.

Houle said the first thing that needs to be addressed is the inadequate emergency access and egress to the house. He noted many of the other hazardous conditions can be addressed by constructing proper landings and guardrails, smoothing out the terrain and organizing the piles. He noted this work can be completed within three months at a cost of approximately $50,000. Houle noted the work could be done by the Town at the owner’s cost.

Councillor Aimee Grice expressed her concern that a resident has been living in such unsafe conditions.

Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said it’s really unfortunate someone has been allowed to live in these conditions without an occupancy permit.

Mayor Martin Johansen said working with this property owner for 25 years has produced no progress.

“When I think of all the other property owners in town who made an investment in their property, who followed our bylaws and followed the building regulations . . . the time has come. It would be irresponsible to continue to ignore this.”

The motion, which declared the partially built house and garage as offensive to the community, generated a lot of discussion.

Councillor Petra Veintimilla asked if the owner chose to abandon some of the projects or merely fill in the holes, would that count as a remedy?

Interim building official Ron Dickinson said it would be easy to work with the owner to make the property safe and occupiable without doing everything he intended to do.

“If I can bring this to a conclusion, I’d be more than happy to work with him.”

Veintimilla said she wanted to see some flexibility in the motion without forcing the owner to come up with the most labour intensive, costly solution.

Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Cowan said the owner can request a modification of the remedial action.