Coldstream's vague dictionary

Funny how words can be misconstrued.
Or misused.

Coldstream mayor Jim Garlick offered their lawyer's advice, "You can make this request for works to be done,"  on whether or not the district could legally charge Judy Paterson for a ~$300,000 multi-use path in front of her Kidston Road property when she applied for a standard homeowner's building permit a year ago to build a garage...yes, one year ago!

That legal advice has only recently been requested--and received--by Coldstream, and is reported in Jennifer Smith's excellent story in The Morning Star newspaper issue of February 19th, 2012.

Coldstream's lawyers need to do more work, though, and perhaps highlight the sentence to more accurately reflect their costly advice, since Coldstream Council still haven't caught on to the limitations of their much-touted "broad powers."

Future legal advice for Coldstream might then appear this way:  "You can make this request for works to be done," providing emphasis--via the bold type--to what Coldstream should be cautious about.

Hmmmmm...  "can", "request"

"Can" isn't a synonym for "should", nor is request a synonym for "demand".

It's as simple as that.
Coldstream's lawyers are saying you CAN ask Judy ... you can REQUEST that Judy build the municipality a $300,000. bicycle path.

But you can't DEMAND, which is what Coldstream's mayor and council and staff have done for an entire year.

In other words, Judy Paterson may accede to Coldstream's request for a bike path.
Or she may not, which she did last year.

Judy's lawyer has offered his advice, too (albeit earlier than the response from Coldstream's lawyer):  "In our opinion, the district has acted outside the scope of their authority.  Our opinion is that they are attempting to strong-arm you into granting the (right-of-way) for the pathway and have no legalistic basis on which to request the works and services sought," stated the letter from Farris, Vaughan, Wills and Murphy LLP.

So has getting the proverbial kick in the cargo-pants enticed Coldstream's mayor and council to apologize to Judy Paterson for the year-long Coldstream fiasco as they deliver her now-approved building permit?

No.
No apology.
No building permit.

The Morning Star article continues:  "While Coldstream maintains its right to make such requests, under the Local Government Act, council is examining its current practice." 

"It's a tough problem that we're dealing with," said Councillor Richard Enns, a lawyer by trade (prior to last November's election there were two lawyers on the district's council), adding "But I don't think at this information-gathering stage we should be making decisions about narrowing our focus just yet."

Narrowing their focus?
After one year he calls it an information-gathering stage?
Somebody check his pulse as it's obviously too slow.

Judy Paterson is concerned, as the article states, about what this could mean for other Coldstream residents wanting to renovate.

Getting up out of the dust, now Coldstream Council is adjusting/reviewing its infrastructure needs to determine if specific requests for off-site frontage works may be appropriate).  Shifting gears, the focus now is on a list of drainage requirements, since they seem--finally--to be convinced of our view that bicycle paths are NOT infrastructure! 

But rest not, folks...drainage affects virtually every one of us, every property in this hilly valley.

The next meeting is a Committee of the Whole event, 6 p.m. Monday, February 20th (tomorrow).
And remember, in this quasi-socialist system, members of the public are NOT allowed to speak to the meeting.

Or sneeze.  Or cough...without a permit.

"We should invite Judge Judy to settle this nonsense," offers Kia.

The article concludes:  "Coldstream has also compared its practices with other communities and has found that the district's are more onerous than many others."

Maybe Judy should follow (and quote) the lead recently set by the B.C. Government itself (where persons charged with crimes--but not scheduled for trial because of too-long delays in getting courtroom time-- are being let go...set free).

Quote that, Judy, as "case law".
Put a shovel in the ground and start that garage...without the permit.