Ont. ombudsman asks St. Clair Township to apologize in dispute over cars on property

Ontario's ombudsman has weighed in on a dispute between St. Clair Township and a resident with too many cars on her property.

In a report released Wednesday entitled By-law Surprise, Paul Dubé has asked the municipality of 15,000 residents south of Sarnia to apologize and rescind an $11,700.63 bill received by a resident who had too many vehicles parked on her property.

"Basically, after her separation she allowed her ex-husband to store some cars on a piece of vacant land she had purchased ... and apparently somebody complained about that," he explained.

"When the township sent a by-law enforcement officer that ... officer dealt with the husband, never dealt with the property owner," Dubé said, adding that the township visited the property about 50 times over the course of four years.

"The township decided to charge her over $11,000 for all the visits the enforcement office had paid to that property."

The ombudsman said the township has the legal authority to clear the property and charge the owner for that service, but that was not what the bill received by the resident was for.

"I don't think any level of government should be allowed to run up inspection and enforcement costs and then levy them out of the blue against a property owner," he said.

The ombudsman does not have the authority to force St. Clair Township to take action as a result of his investigation.