Oil tankers polluting our oceans, garbage washing in from overseas and everybody’s hair is on fire. But the same pollution of neighbourhoods with rusting cars, weed filled front yards, oversize boats and huge commercial size storage containers seems to be totally ignored by most people until it’s too late.
I understand that a lot of retirees want to fulfill their dreams by rebuilding their dream car or travelling to paradise in their oversized land yachts. I understand small business owners want to use their property as a base. Unfortunately these things mushroom and human nature being what it is, the next guy builds bigger and higher.
I didn’t buy a zoned single family home to end up living in a commercial storage lot. If people think I’m trying to be involved in their lives, I’m not. They become involved in my life because they hugely impact the value of my and other taxpayer’s properties whether we want to sell in the future or just want to enjoy a well-kept yard.
I wish to thank the editor, the people who phoned me and the other letter writers, some of which wrote requests for city councillors to peruse our neighbourhoods. I suspect their efforts won’t result in much action, as they and other city councils have been aware of this growing problem for years and have chosen to ignore it.
Two years ago, a very nice reporter from this very newspaper ran a report about this issue and then it was forgotten.
In case others think that the city can deal with this problem, there are no specific bylaws on the books to deal with chronic property owners or renters. Legally, the city forces developers to present subdivision plans contains covenants regarding parking, lot size, etc. But once the houses are built there is no legal body to enforce these so-called legal covenants.
Richard PacanowskiParksville
