Vanderhoof music instructor Doug MacLean is accusing the District of Vanderhoof of changing its tune on a proposed development - a move that could cost him over $100,000.
He's now making such a racket over the situation that he's collected more than 50 names on a petition and has gathered supporters to back him during a meeting with district staff and councillors.
However, he recently discovered the Jan. 25 meeting will be in-camera, causing him to voice further objections since his supporters won't be able to attend.
The problem began in Nov. 2 when MacLean installed a mobile home adjacent to his Nechako Valley Music School at 340 West First St. in Vanderhoof to use as a caretaker residence, based on assurances he said he received from a district building inspector that a building permit would be issued.
Instead, on Nov. 9 the district sent MacLean a letter saying no building permit would be issued and ordering him to remove the mobile home.
"I was instructed to put that trailer on site. None of this would have happened if they hadn't had flaws in their procedures," said MacLean.
"I'm just trying to do two things, rectify this situation so I can get the benefit of my investment, and to provide a service to the community. Don't they want a music school?"
MacLean applied to the district for the building permit on Oct. 18, and was told he should receive the permit by Oct. 31.
MacLean said he approached building inspector Garry Stevens for advice and was told placing a mobile home on the lot would be at his own risk, but the necessary building permit would arrive once the district received final
paperwork.
In addition, MacLean said, he was told that because the property is zoned for highway commercial use, he could store the mobile home on site until the building permit was issued.
MacLean received two handwritten notes from Stevens on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, which included advice on how to join the mobile home and existing structure to meet zoning requirements.
District deputy administrator Tom Clement said district staff did speak with MacLean about the proposed building, but never indicated he should proceed before receiving a building permit.
"He came in and applied for a building permit and we had some discussions about it," Clement said. "We never issued a building permit to him.
"We never, at any point, said, 'Yes, move it.'
"We were at the point where we were looking at it. [But] he went ahead and put the mobile home on the property."
Stevens could not be reached for comment as of press time.
After installing the mobile home, a neighbour lodged a complaint with the district. On Nov. 9, MacLean was hand-delivered a letter from the district ordering the mobile home off the property by Dec. 15.
"As a result of further consideration of the application and legal advice, the District of Vanderhoof has concluded that the mobile home that you wish to locate on this property... would not constitute a caretaker dwelling unit contained in the same building as the commercial use, as the mobile home would remain a functionally a separate entity merely linked to the main building," Clement wrote.
MacLean said he tried to comply and requested an extension to find more time to relocate the mobile home.
On Dec. 22 he was sent a second letter from the district's lawyers requiring the building be removed by Jan. 31 or the district would take legal action.
MacLean's lawyer Michael Reeds said his client is the victim in this case and is being further victimized by the district.
"It simply boils down to this gentleman being misled by the [district]," Reed said. "He had done everything the [district] had told him. The [district] is now
taking litigation against him.
"It's a terrible injustice that has been done to him, in my opinion."
Clement said it's a cut and dry case of MacLean acting before receiving the appropriate building permits.
"That happens lots, unfortunately, but there is nothing we can do if people choose to go ahead without a building permit," Clement said.
"That puts us in a tough position of having to tell him to remove it."
