I wrote recently about a Burnaby homeowner who was furious that his view was being blocked by a new neighbour who had erected two clotheslines that were filled with large sheets.
Other readers have complained to me over the years about neighbours blocking their views by not trimming their trees, building a treehouse or building an entirely new house.
But the granddaddy of them all is a person who launched a civil suit against the City of Burnaby.
In the suit, it details a Burnaby family in the Capitol Hill area who had a killer view that stretched all the way to downtown Vancouver, Burrard Inlet and the Lions Gate Bridge (you can see the photo above for the before and after).
But a new house was built in front of the family’s and it’s the approval of that house that has led them to petition the City of Burnaby in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
In the petition, the family asked for the situation to be rectified or for the city to pay him $1 million in compensation for “irreversible and permanent damages” suffered by his family through the loss of their “precious” view. The petition also states that he will accept $50,000 if the “illegal portal” of the new house is “knocked down.”
“You are taking something that belongs to me from my hand,” the family said in a screenshot of a text message included in the case evidence attached to his court petition. “It’s awful.”
According to the petition, Wayne asserts that the City of Burnaby’s front yard setback calculations for the new house are incorrect and so the permit for the house shouldn’t have been issued.
In a September 2020 email from the City of Burnaby, the city asserts that it relies on current B.C. Land Surveyors survey data for building locations.
The case is really something. I live on Burnaby Mountain and we chose this location because we also have a killer view that runs from Burrard Inlet to Mount Baker to downtown Surrey.
Over the years, several tall trees have been growing steadily and taking over part of the view of Burrard Inlet where it hits Port Moody. I hate that we’re losing our view and I’ll admit to having had dreams of taking a chainsaw to the trees to clear our vision.
But dreams are as far as that goes. (We’d never do that.) I’ve even thought about finding out whose responsibility it is for those trees. I’m not sure if it’s the city, the strata or SFU. Maybe I could write a letter demanding that those trees be trimmed.
Common sense, of course, keeps me from doing any of that. Others, however, have told me about the great lengths they’ve gone to in fights with their neighbours over their views.
Fair enough. But should taxpayers have to compensate a homeowner for losing part of a view?
Let me know what you think?
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
