Carrying signs that said “Victims of bureaucratic bungling” and “Solution not silence,” Ruby and Daljeet Deol took their sons, Marcus, 4, and Ethan, two months, to White Rock city hall for a noon-hour protest against the order that has halted construction of their half-built dream house.
“My husband has put our life savings into this home building and I am on maternity leave,” Ruby Deol said Thursday.
“We need a resolution now, otherwise we will be on the streets.”
A city building inspector slapped stop-work orders on the three-storey, three-garage house in the 14100-block of Wheatley Avenue on Feb. 24, after the Deols cut down a Pacific Dogwood tree in their front yard.
As long as the order remains in effect, no construction can be carried out.
The Deols said the city has refused to discuss removing the stop-work order even though they have offered compensation.
“We understand we made a mistake,” Ruby Deol said. “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to solve the issue. For that one loss of one tree we’re willing to put several more on the property; on top of that, we’re willing to donate a dozen endangered species trees to the city.”
The couple said they redesigned their new home to preserve a number of large, older trees on the lot, but as construction proceeded, they discovered one was blocking the entrance to their house, and they thought they had obtained the necessary permission to remove it from the provincial Ministry of Forests.
White Rock director of planning and development services Paul Stanton told Peace Arch News Thursday that the couple signed a written agreement promising they would preserve the Dogwood, which is designated a “specimen” or protected tree under municipal bylaws.
“The Ministry of Forests has no jurisdiction over trees in the city,” Stanton noted.
Stanton said the city is seeking legal advice before it decides its next move.
“The stop-work order stays in effect until we work it out.”
Daljeet Deol said the city’s refusal to bargain could result in the loss of his house.
“They (the city) can delay it as much as possible, but I have a builder coming to me and if I don’t pay by a certain time, then they go to collection and collection goes to bankruptcy and there’s my house (gone),” Deol said.
A lawsuit would be a waste of taxpayers’ money, Deol said.
“Our dollars are used against us by the bureaucratic bullies,” Daljeet Deol said as he stood outside city hall. “This is insane.”
Stanton objected to the “bullying” remark.
“We’re just trying to administrate the bylaws that they (the Deols) seem to have no respect for,” he said.
Stanton said White Rock and Metro Vancouver municipalities are fighting a trend where homeowners ignore bylaws, cut down protected trees and simply pay the fines in order to clear space or open up a view.
He added the Deols had won permission to demolish the existing older house on the view slope facing the ocean by agreeing to alter their building design to save the older trees.
They continued to press for removal of the Dogwood, despite signing a promissory note to the contrary, Stanton said.
“Three times in writing we said no.”
The Deols said they and the city are battling over a tree that is no longer a protected species.
The Pacific Dogwood, which produces the white flowers that form B.C’s official emblem, was at one time protected by provincial law, but that was repealed in 2002.
The Deols said when they learned the law had been repealed, they applied for a permit to remove their tree and thought one had been granted when they received what is called a timbermark, a letter/number code that certifies ownership.
They said they didn’t learn until after the tree came down that a timbermark does not grant the authority to cut timber, only transporting a log from a lot.