Don Pickle—the infrastructure manager for the municipality—was served the notices, one for unsightly property and another for dangerous property, by the bylaw department last month. The notices came in conjunction with a Parks Canada order to remove the trampoline from the ground and fill in the excavation hole by June 9.
Pickle, who since receiving the notices has cleaned up his property and installed fencing around the trampoline, was in front of council to request that the municipality put aside its two notices until he has worked out his differences with Parks.
“I would ask that I be allowed to finish that issue, have it come to conclusion, before I engage the two municipal orders I received from the bylaw department,” he said. “I’m confident that when I’m finished with Parks Canada, you’ll be satisfied and the nuisance issues that you’ve identified will be rectified or resolved.”
After hearing his appeal and the advice of Dave Osborne, licensing and enforcement manager, council unanimously voted against Pickle’s request.
Council did so acknowledging that Pickle had already complied with both of the requests by tidying up his property and fencing the safety hazard, but noted that by putting aside the notices, that would allow for a public safety hazard, as the fencing would then be allowed to come down.
“I believe it is unsafe,” Osborne told council before the vote. “Somebody could fall in that, break a leg, twist an ankle, do something—the municipality would be liable for this if we didn’t take action. The secure fencing prevents that from happening. I believe it should be erected until such time that his situation with Parks Canada is remedied.”
Pickle dug the excavation in September 2012 with hopes of placing a trampoline inside for his kids to play and train on. Subsequently, he was served a voluntary stop work order by Parks, who according to Pickle, said he needed a development permit for the project. When he applied for the permit, Parks then told him that the trampoline, when placed in the ground, is an accessory building.
In April, the trampoline was placed in the hole by Pickle’s children. Following that action, Parks and the municipality served him with the latest notices.
Pickle is now planning to take legal action in order to convince Parks that a trampoline is not a building, but a recreational toy.
“A building has walls and a roof [and is] for storage or habitation. A trampoline is a frame with springs and a mat for jumping up and down on. They’re not the same,” he said.
If Pickle is allowed to finish the project, there will be fencing and mats in place to ensure the trampoline is safe for his kids and their friends, he told council.
“I’m out for the health and safety of my kids and the kids of the community that jump all over it.
“There’s a number of reasons of logic as to why I’ve done this and it was all with the best of intents for everybody’s wellbeing and it was not to cause a problem or to end up here in front of you today.”
Pickle was set to meet with his lawyer last week to discuss how to move forward with Parks Canada.
