A brand new Alberta home was demolished Thursday when a court ordered its destruction after the homeowner failed to obtain proper building permits, leaving some to think officials went overboard.
On Thursday, Global News reported that village of Carmangay officials claimed the homeowner had obtained a development permit and a building permit. However, the building permit was for a garage, not a house.
“He just figured he could build however he wanted, to build wherever he wanted to build,” Mayor Kym Nichols told Global News.
The homeowner then ignored several stop work orders, and after a court battle, the house came down, leaving some Global News readers to question whether the village went a little too far.
“What a terrible thing to do. At the very very least it could have been a charity write off and shipped to Habitat for Humanity or sold and moved,” Bunny Hill wrote. “What a terrible thing to do to this man. the community should be ashamed. They could have checked the house out and even though he built it himself they could have approved it along the way. Shame on Carmangay!!!”
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“I think this is disgusting. I don’t care if this person was given multiple warnings, all these permits are is a big money grab for the township to get their piece of the pie. A house should absolutely require an inspection to make sure everything is up to code and safe to be occupied but paying to be “allowed” to build on land you own is ludicrous,” Kristy Gerrow chimed in. “I know this is how it is but that doesn’t make it right. This was a complete waste of time, money and a waste of materials. There were better ways to resolve this.”
Others were quick to point out the permits need to be obtained for a reason.
“If permits weren’t required to build a house, you’d have hacks out there doing anything they wanted. While I agree some rules are ridiculous, without permits you’d have a lot of safety issues. The building regulations are there for a reason,” Randy Glover said.
“Awesome! Tired of people breaking the law and getting away with it! After all those attempts to tear it down, way too many chances to begin with, I’m glad they tore it down!” Jill Shea Anders wrote. “If the rest of us have to follow the law, what makes them so special?!”
“This seems to be common practice now a days, Ignoring all the rules and bylaws and then asking for forgiveness. I understand he was told not to go ahead, but did so anyways,” Dan Soukeroff commented.
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“I feel sorry for the guy, but rules and regulations are put in place for all people to follow. Why wouldn’t he just not comply? Why wouldn’t you not get the correct permits? You will not saving money by making shortcuts you actually spending more money that way,” Ida Scott-Rousell wrote. “All the time this man put into make a house just to have it rip down because he wanted to break the rule and not get a permit for a house.”
Global News was unable to speak to the homeowner and he was not on the premises when the demolition began.
–with files from Christina Succi
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