A former District of Lantzville mayoral candidate has to pay legal fees to the municipality after a pair of contempt of court rulings.
Stanley Edward Pottie, a business owner taken to court by the District of Lantzville over the use of his property, will have to pay $15,262 in court costs to the District of Lantzville following an application hearing in the Supreme Court of British Columbia late last month, according to court documents.
The costs stem from an ongoing legal battle between Pottie and the municipality over land use at his 7890 Clark Drive West property.
In July 2018, the Supreme Court of B.C. ruled that Pottie contravened the district’s zoning and building bylaws by having a large trailer, small trailer, decks and shed on his property, court documents show.
Pottie was effectively ordered to remove the trailers from his property and stop using it as a recreational vehicle park by November 2018. However, he was given a six-month extension to comply after he raised concerns that it would be difficult to cease operations because people were living on the property, according to court documents.
In May, Pottie was found to be in contempt of court for failure to comply with previous court orders and fined $5,000. Then, in August 2019, the Supreme Court of B.C. found Pottie in contempt again and issued him an additional $10,000 fine. Pottie, court documents show, could potentially be forced to pay as much as $25,000 in fines if he fails to meet a number of deadlines.
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Justice David A. Crerar, in his August 2019 ruling, wrote that Pottie must remove all recreational vehicles from his property.
“The district may well be seeking an order that you be incarcerated until you can fully comply with these multiple orders of this court,” Crerar wrote in his ruling.
Speaking to the News Bulletin, the district’s lawyer Anthony D. Price told the News Bulletin that the $15,262 that Pottie must pay is for the two contempt of court hearings that took place last year. He said that money, once paid, will be going to the district.
“The costs are costs to the district,” he said, adding that fines issued by the court are paid to the Ministry of Finance and not the municipality.
Price said it his understanding that Pottie still has not paid the $10,000 or $5,000 that he was ordered to pay last year as well.
“I’m not aware of him having paid any fines yet,” he said.
Pottie finished third among three mayoral candidates in the 2018 local government election. He declined to comment to the News Bulletin this week about the court decision.
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nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram
