Dartmouth homeowner fights city cleanup order
CBC News | Posted: November 14, 2014 2:50 PM | Last Updated: November 14, 2014
Richard Doucette has been working to expand his home on Crichton Avenue for five years
A homeowner dinged with a city order to complete work on his Dartmouth house argues the building is under renovation, not an unsightly premise.
For five years Richard Doucette has been working to expand his home on Crichton Avenue.
The exterior is not finished and remains partially-shingled behind the staging.
After complaints last May, the city ordered Doucette to complete work on the exterior facing the street. The order gave him 30 days to clean up.
The city withdrew that order but Doucette's lawyer, Richard Norman, said the dispute continues.
"HRM issued an order and upheld an order through a biased appeals committee and that caused Mr. Doucette significant legal fees and he thinks those are fees HRM should have to pay," he said.
Doucette's legal fees are about $6,000. When his appeal failed, Doucette alleged bias and asked for a court review.
Norman said Coun. Gloria McCluskey made the complaint to the municipal compliance officer and then voted on the matter as part of the city's Appeals Committee.
Randolph Kinghorne, a lawyer for the Halifax Regional Municipality, offers another version of events. He said McCluskey relayed many complaints she had received from residents in the area. He said there was no wrongdoing but the procedural wrangling delayed council in dealing with the unsightly complaint.
Second order issued
"HRM felt it would be better to focus on that issue by withdrawing the order and doing a fresh investigation," he said.
Three weeks ago, a building inspector issued a second order to finish the exterior work and Doucette is again appealing.
"There is a new order that is in effect that Mr. Doucette has appealed again," Norman said.
"I guess the big issue with the order is, can you issue an order for unsightly premises for a house that's being renovated? Can you say because the house is being renovated and the cladding isn't up on the house, does that mean it's unsightly?"
When asked how long it would take to complete the work, Doucette said the permit is good until September 2015.
"It's a complex project and we are working within those dates," he said.
A judge has reserved a decision on whether the city should pay the legal costs of a homeowner who is not ready to comply.
Corrections:- An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Richard Doucette's lawyer as Greg Norman, when in fact his name is Richard Norman. The story also attributed a quote about permit dates to Norman, when in fact it was said by Doucette. November 14, 2014 4:08 PM