City to order demolition of unauthorized dwelling on Hamilton parkland

Hamilton City Hall says it’ll be giving a demolition order to a Stoney Creek Mountain resident after he built a dwelling on city land.

During a city council meeting Wednesday, it was revealed that the homeowner built the expansion during the pandemic without permits.

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Ward 9 councillor Brad Clark says permits and consultations were available to obtain for the Stoney Creek homeowner on Kingsview Drive.

At one point, a sale or lease of the partial, encroached land was considered, but ultimately, city staff will now enforce its zoning bylaws.

“So neither the zoning bylaw or the official plan permits the building of this single detached dwelling on the rear of the property regardless of the fact that it’s on city property,” said Clark.

The City of Hamilton says the owner of the Stoney Creek home can expect a notice of removal.

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City officials say the expansion is encroaching on city property, primarily parkland, without permits.

“Those next steps will be the enforcement of the city’s applicable bylaws and we will be following up with the owner accordingly,” said Steve Robichaud, acting general manager for planning and development.

During Wednesday’s city council meeting, councillors supported city staff’s call to not accommodate the residential development following considerations of potentially selling or leasing the dwelling.

“To be fair to the owner, we will re-advise the owner that the building needs to be removed and we will give the owner a reasonable amount of time to respond as to what that removal would look like, whether they wish to dismantle it or to explore options to move it because you can move a structure,” said Robichaud.

The homeowner Joe Tarasca tells CHCH News that he wanted “to right the wrong” and offered to purchase the land for $150,000. He also says he spent roughly $400,000 on the development.

Clark confirmed that City Hall was aware of the offer, but will not be considering another avenue.

He added that the homeowner did face an initial fine of $7,000 after the development was completed.

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“Generally you get fences, you get people who have misjudged the property line and then it’s found out and sheds are crossed over. But if we permit anyone to get away with it, then we open up Pandora’s box,” said Clark.

Clark says the builder claimed he tried to get a permit but couldn’t during the pandemic, but then went ahead with the project anyways.

Clark adds that city zoning services were available online and that he could not support an accommodation for the property owner to buy.

“In the last five years there’s been 124 attempted encroachments onto city property. We have pushed back on all of them. We’ve had a few that had buildings on them and sheds, and they were ordered to take them down,” said Clark

The city’s planning and development department says the Kingsview Drive property owner will be on the hook for costs to remove the development on city land.

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