The City of Richmond wants to demolish a “decorative wall” and watercourse crossing, which it says are unauthorized and obstructing an “integral part” of the city’s drainage network.
A city staff report asks that the infill and culvert in the watercourse fronting a property – at 13740 Westminster Highway near No. 6 Road – be declared as having “obstructed, filled up or damaged” the watercourse.
“Under current unauthorized conditions, the boulevard experiences substantial surface ponding fronting the property and the neighbouring church located at 13780 Westminster Hwy,” the report reads.
“This ponding is a result of the unauthorized infill.”
Prior to the infill, the ditch collected run off from both the boulevard and the road, according to the report.
City staff also recommend that the decorative wall over the watercourse be declared as “creating an unsafe condition.”
Council will be voting on the staff recommendations at Tuesday’s general purposes committee meeting.
Unless someone has a permit to do so, it’s not permitted to place any fill or material in a watercourse crossing in Richmond, under city bylaw.
In this particular case, the city received a watercourse crossing permit application to infill the watercourse at the Westminster Highway property on Jan. 8, 2018, according to the report.
The application was rejected and the application fee refunded as the watercourse is in a Riparian Management Area (RMA), which is not eligible for an infill.
Since then, however, the owners of the property have installed a culvert and infilled the watercourse without a permit.
The crossing also raised the surrounding ground elevation, causing the existing water meter to be located approximately 1 metre below the ground service – making it inaccessible for servicing.
The owners constructed a decorative wall on top of the culvert in Aug. 2019 – on a portion of the property in an RMA – which the report says “has started to fail.”
“As a result, the unauthorized watercourse crossing cannot be removed without subjecting workers to the safety hazard of the decorative wall potentially collapsing on the work area,” reads the report.
“In addition, the decorative wall is located directly on what previously was the top of the ditch bank and will prevent the ditch from being restored and constructed in accordance with the city’s engineering design specifications.”
City staff originally requested that the owners comply with regulations by Sept. 30, 2019, and mailed and hand-delivered letters to the property prior to that date. However, the owners didn’t comply and staff began issuing fines on Oct. 30, 2019.
Those fines total $8,500, which to date have not been paid, according to the report.
Staff are now asking council to impose remedial actions on the owners, requiring them to demolish the wall and remove the debris, remove the unauthorized watercourse crossing and complete restoration work for the watercourse – with a deadline of 5 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2020.
“If the property owners do not comply, staff recommend that the city begin remediating the area to fully restore drainage system functionality and public safety,” reads the report.
“The cost for the removal of the unauthorized watercourse crossing and the decorative wall and remediation back to watercourse is estimated to be $58,400."
The report notes that the owner would be expected to cover that cost.
The owner would be expected to pay the city back for all expenses incurred. If they fail to do so, the costs would then be applied to the property’s taxes.
