IT'S astonishing that a North Vancouver man will likely have to knock down a brand-new house he has built on his property. Despite his pleas for leniency, district staff are currently headed to court to get an order for it to be demolished.
The sheer waste - of money, work, materials, his neighbours' patience and municipal time - is deplorable.
Nevertheless, this man has absolutely no one to blame but himself. The building is illegal. It violates zoning bylaws with its eave height and its inadequate distance from the property line, and if allowed to stand would create a precedent that others might follow.
The builder didn't bother to try and get the necessary building permits. District staff, and also neighbourhood associations, made repeated attempts to stop the project with letters, phone calls and visits to the site. It's hard to grasp what part of "stop work order" the owner didn't understand.
This unhappy episode should be heeded by those who think a large hedge can protect them from zoning regulations and the intervention of the state on private property. However, those who have cynically despaired about the lack of teeth their local government displays when it comes to development will take some comfort from council's action.
The community does have a say when it comes to what is built next door. We applaud both district council and the local residents for sticking to their guns. Demolition is a shocking but totally avoidable outcome - and proves that talking with your neighbours is an indispensable foundation for any project.
