By Ian Holmes

RDN to clean up messiest property they’ve ever seen

Oct 27, 2017 | 4:48 PM

NANAIMO — A notoriously messy property south of Nanaimo will finally be cleaned up after years of complaints from neighbours.

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) board voted to send in crews to clean up 1415 Spruston Rd. at the owner’s expense, a decision backed by a recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling.

“Probably one of the worst cases of mess and hoarding of disused and discarded materials staff have seen in the Regional District,” Tom Armet, the RDN’s manager of building and bylaw services, told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Pictures supplied to NanaimoNewsNOW show multiple old appliances, vehicles, tires, pallets and plastic containers covering the lot.

Armet doesn’t expect the homeowners of the rural property will clean up the clutter and said with the hired contractors the mess will be fixed by years end.

24/7 support

Major supportive housing complex set to open in Nanaimo

1h ago

whale rescue

Killer whale calf trapped in B.C. swims out of lagoon

3h ago

permanent home

'We're hugely grateful:' Nanaimo Men's Shed group finds a place to call home

7h ago

Armet said more than 100 large truckloads of trash and material will likely be removed from the property. He said total cleanup costs to safely address the property’s hazardous condition range as high as $80,000.

A B.C. Supreme Court decision 10 years ago required the property owners to clean the property and cover the RDN’s legal expenses. Armet noted minor progress was then made on the cleanup front, but said the waters were muddied when the province took over the property in 2014 because property taxes weren’t paid.

He said the RDN is pursuing owed legal fees from the property owners as well.

“There was basic compliance, then it went back to its original condition, then of course with the property forfeiture the RDN wasn’t able to take action against the provincial government until it was turned back to the property owner.”

Armet said the RDN received 18 complaints about the property last year, leading to a strengthened court ruling in July, which in part authorized the RDN to have it cleaned up.

“It continues to get worse instead of better,” Armet said. “There isn’t a spot on ground on that property that doesn’t have some sort of debris, garbage or discarded material covering it.”

— with files from Spencer Sterritt

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes