A Sunshine Coast homeowner claims that the local government is now “bullying” residents who were forcibly relocated when sinkholes emerged in their neighbourhood.
The District of Sechelt is now suing residents, according to Ed Pednaud, nearly four years after being evicted from his Porpoise Bay house in the Seawatch community and continuous legal fighting.
The first lawsuit seeks to make us pay back agreements they have already made with local residents. + a few legal fees. Additionally, they want us to repair the subdivision’s roadways, he told Global News.
“It’s an effort to pressure us into dropping some of the current legal actions we’re taking against the district of Sechelt. Basically, they’re just attempting to intimidate us.
“In February 2019, after sinkholes and erosion made the neighbourhood inhabitable, Pednaud and the occupants of 13 other homes were forced to leave their homes, resulting in a local emergency.
Even though the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that the order was illegal, the state of emergency was extended more than 150 times. It wasn’t lifted until February 2022, when people were finally able to return to their homes lawfully. It’s disastrous. As you move around the house, memories come to mind.
You may have attended a party here or run into some neighbours,” he continued.
Afterwards, “you walk through it (today) and there’s shattered glass, graffiti on the walls, and items that have been taken from your house and you simply don’t know what to do about it.”
Invoking pending litigation, the District of Sechelt has declined to comment on the situation.
The district’s legal filings, however, reveal it is seeking damages that could mount into the millions of dollars.
One claim is to collect minor compensatory payments granted to various residents as a result of the evacuation as well as legal costs from unsuccessful lawsuits filed by the residents and legal proceedings taken by other parties.
The lawsuit makes reference to a provision in a covenant recorded on the subdivision that shields the district from loss or expense resulting from usage of the land.
The second lawsuit aims to make the subdivision’s inhabitants financially liable for all necessary infrastructure repairs.
If the residents are successful, they will be expected to fix, remove, restore, replace, or stabilise any structures, landscaping, utilities, or road infrastructure on the property, at their own expense and to the district’s satisfaction.
Neither lawsuit includes a cost.
Pednaud said residents just want a solution, and are happy to deal with the issue outside of court, if the district is willing to talk.
“We’re still hoping the district of Sechelt will come to the table and just talk to us, maybe take the lawyers out of it, let’s just discuss and see what we can come up with,” the man said.
“A new mayor has been chosen for our city. Maybe there’s a way there where we can talk to him and see what we can do to remedy this problem.
Residents are nonetheless displaced and financially responsible for their unprofitable properties in the interim.
According to recent BC Assessment numbers, some properties’ values have plummeted from more than $1 million to about $2, and vandalism and squatters continue to be problems.
Suing residents evicted from a subdivision by sinkholes is the District of Sechelt
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