Wednesday, December 5 ~ COLWOOD
by West Shore Voice News
A dispute over the planting of trees and installation of a rock wall by Colwood property owners Tim and Cynthia Day on municipal property has resulted in the arrest of Cynthia Day today December 5, after she stood in the way of maintenance crews who came to remove the wall.
Ms Day is currently a Colwood city councillor, re-elected in October 2018 for a four-year term.
Old-growth trees on the municipal property along the front of the Day home at 3546 Charnley Place were — according to the City — falling on the road and/or nearby properties and as such that was considered to be a safety hazard.
Tim Day has told media that he considers removal of the rock wall today (and previous removal of some trees) to be vandalism.
Notice of the upcoming wall-removal work was hand delivered to Cynthia Day at 7 pm by the City’s Mayor, Rob Martin, after an in-camera council meeting on November 26, 2018.
According to Tim Day, his repeated requests for a copy of a 2017 Engineering Report — in which the trees were determined to be a safety hazard — were denied.
The Days were asked to sign an encroachment agreement that would have required them to do maintenance on the trees and wall, and to carry insurance for the improvements on municipal land. The City of Colwood is concerned about their liability should any safety issues be caused by falling trees/limbs or problems with the rock wall.
The dispute to date shows evidence of cooperation at different stages from both sides. A permit was provided to the Days by the City in 2003, giving them one year to install or update the improvements (trees/wall). The plantings could remain so long as insurance was taken out by the property owners.
Use of municipal property in front of homes throughout the region is not uncommon. Municipalities deal with it in various ways through public education as well as bylaws and enforcement of those bylaws.
Further comment to come from Mayor Rob Martin and from property owner Tim Day.