409 – 1215 Lansdowne Drive
Coquitlam, BC
V3E 2P2
February 10, 2007
RCMP Coquitlam
Detachment
2986 Guildford Way
Coquitlam, B. C.
V3B 7Y5
Re: Enforcement of
Penalty for Bylaw Contraventions
I own property
civically known and described as 409-1215
Lansdowne Drive, Coquitlam, BC, situated in a designated Tree Cutting
Permit area.
On or about
February 17-25, 2006, a neighbour, Mr. Alexander MacLeod, of 518-409 Lansdowne Drive, had trees cut
down around our property, without authorization of any kind. In spite of my repeated requests to replace the trees, he
has failed to replace them every day for nearly a year.
I hate to have to
complain, but Mr. MacLeod’s actions are in contravention of the City of Coquitlam Tree Cutting Permit Bylaw No.
2169, 1990. Even worse, the violation has continued to exist without penalty each
day that he refuses to replace the trees he wrongfully cut down.
Section 11 of said
bylaw states:
11) Penalty
a)
Every
person who contravenes or fails to comply with this Bylaw, commits an offence
and is punishable in accordance with the provisions of the Offence Act (British Columbia).
b)
Each
day that a violation of the provisions of this Bylaw exists shall constitute
separate offence.
The northeast
corner of our building sunk about 6 inches in 1988. Although we had no further
trouble until 2003, since then sudden and dramatic evidence of structural
damage has been ongoing. Our retaining walls and deck are sinking. Mr MacLeod recklessly, if not maliciously,
caused the destruction of perfectly viable mature trees that were more than
16.5 feet high, located on a slope with a history of erosion and land slip, in
spite of my strong warnings of the dangers, both legal and environmental. He
did this while we were out of town and unable to intervene.
The trees were specifically retained during building envelope repairs, and the one just in front of my window had just been pruned to repair a broken twig. It had never caused damage or been the source of complaint. We need it replanted without further delay, before another growing season is lost and its root structure is completely decomposed.
This is a
continuing offence, which is causing ongoing detriment. Please take action and
advise me accordingly.
Dianne Bond
