Lake Drive property owner takes Town to court over building permit dispute

By: Mike Anderson

 The Town of Georgina is facing a legal challenge after it repeatedly refused to issue building permits to repair two aging boathouses at 121 Lake Drive N.

Nella Ieraci, whose company Icarus Inc. owns the property at 121 Lake Drive N., has filed an appeal in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, under section 25 of the Building Code Act, after the Town’s building department denied her latest building permit application in January 2021 because she could not prove she owned the land under the boathouses.

The case could challenge the Town’s current policy of not issuing building permits to indirect waterfront property owners, so they can repair or replace boathouses, docks or other structures, unless they can prove they own the lakeside land across the road.

Mrs. Ieraci claims the Town has not acted in “good faith,” repeatedly denying, over a ten year period, building permit applications that would have allowed her to repair the boathouses, while at the same time issuing “Unsafe Orders” requiring her to tear them down.

Mrs. Ieraci argues the two boathouses, which date from the 1950s, should be considered “legal non-conforming,” which means they would be exempt from current regulations.

Mrs. Ieraci is confident that once a judge has been able to review the Town’s handling of her property, the court will grant her appeal.

“The Town is supposed to be a corporation that operates with supreme professionalism, but they don’t. They’re very back and forth, ” she said.

In 2011, after the Town issued its first “Unsafe Order,” Mrs. Ieraci got a court order allowing her to repair or rebuild the boathouses.

But the Town, according to Mrs. Ieraci, never issued a building permit — despite being required to do so.

“When they signed that agreement, that was a settlement order agreed to between all parties, they should have moved forward with issuing the permit and recommended to LSRCA that we work together and move forward. But they held back. They never issued the permit,” she said.

“They should have told LSRCA that as far as they’re concerned, they’re done. Then LSCRA would have followed their footsteps and said, okay, it’s legal non-conforming.”

There is additional evidence to support Mrs. Ieraci’s claims.

According to court filings, the Town issued building permits to repair and inspect the boathouses in the 1970s and 1980s.

“They issued permits, and they did inspections. And now they are trying to take back rights that they gave the previous owners,” said Mrs. Ieraci, who purchased the property with her husband in 1996.

“I would like them to issue the permit. We just want to fix them up. We’re willing to spend the money and not have an eyesore on the Lake.”

Mrs. Ieraci hopes her case will be heard this June.

“This is the last resort. I didn’t want to do this. But they left me no other door,” she said.

“The only way to do it is through the courts, which costs taxpayer’s money. But if the Town is not going to respect people’s rights and their responsibilities as administrators, then a judge will have to do it.”

Mrs. Ieraci believes her property, which she has paid taxes on for 25 years and is assessed as a waterfront property by MPAC, has been unfairly caught up in the ownership dispute along Lake Drive.

And she blames the current Council for forcing the issue of ownership when previous councils were wise enough to leave it alone.

“It’s a very complicated issue, but to me it centres around fairness. And it seems to me that this Council is going against previous councils in that they were prepared to have a sort of middle ground where this Council appears not to have that middle ground,” she said.

While the Town will not comment on matters before the courts, it did provide further clarification around its policy of not issuing building permits to indirect waterfront property owners along Lake Drive.

According to a Town spokesperson, the Town did issue building permits in the past along Lake Drive “where the owner had confirmed, without providing evidence of ownership, that they have title to the property.”

However, that policy has since changed.

“The Town now possesses greater information regarding ownership claims along Lake Drive than it had in the past, and as such, the Town will not issue a building permit unless evidence of ownership of the land is provided,” the Town spokesperson said.

“The Town has found this action to be prudent especially since the issues concerning ownership claims along Lake Drive have occurred and as litigation has ensued.”

This means that Lake Drive property owners cannot get a building permit to repair boathouses, docks, or other structures unless they can prove they own their lakeside lots.

Still, the Town may grant a building permit, if it is a matter of public safety.

“In the case of an unsafe condition or to avoid an unsafe condition arising, the Town will assess particular circumstances to determine whether action should be taken to protect public health and safety,” the Town spokesperson said.

“As Council is addressing the Lake Drive issue, staff will be bringing forward further information for Council’s consideration related to the issuance of building permits when unsafe conditions arise.”