THE PLUG’S BEEN PULLED
A popular Halloween haunt has been shut down
Westmount resident Jeff Peach is one unhappy haunter.
His annual interactive Halloween haunt has been ordered taken down by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and, due to the shortage of time to redo it before Halloween, the haunt will not run this October.
“I am kind of disgusted with Sydney, disgusted with the bylaw office, I’m disgusted with the neighbour who said it was an eyesore. We put our hearts and souls into this to give something to Sydney when no one else is giving anything to Sydney,” said Peach.
The Westside Cemetery is a large Halloween haunt that has operated for the past two Halloween seasons. It’s located on Midgley Drive in Westmount and, in the weeks before Halloween when it was in operation, the public was able to go through it and experience what Peach says are “true-to-life horror scenarios.”
“My favourite part is my haunters, my crew — we went from strangers to family in a very short time,” Peach said, “I watched people grow from kids who couldn’t use a measuring tape to young men who could balance and run an interactive haunt.”
The first year, the haunt was built out of burlap and it was cheaply made. The following year, buoyed by the previous year’s success, Peach decided to up the ante and the haunt was built from plywood and roughly $20,000 worth of materials.
“It brought to Westmount an outlet for the kids and teens to be part of something during a month that, as everyone knows, kids can easily get into a lot of trouble,” Peach said.
“We gave them something to do rather than go out and smash pumpkins on people’s front doorsteps or throw rocks at houses.”
Peach declined to reveal names but said the CBRM bylaw office not only told them to take down the haunt, but one particular employee was considerably rude and unwilling to share information.
“I was in the dark for a lot of it,” Peach said, “Basically what they said was that it was an eyesore, but anyone who knows my haunt knows that it was anything but an eyesore.
“It was a piece of art.”
The CBRM saw things differently.
“There was a complaint about the property being dangerous and unsightly so an inspection was carried out,” said Paul Burt, the CBRM’s manager of building, planning and licensing laws. “The property was found to be dangerous and unsightly and he was informed to take it down.
“He is allowed to reassemble it and put it up in a reasonable amount of time before Halloween and take it down within a reasonable time after Halloween.” Peach petitioned for a one-year grace period when the CBRM came to him in July, hoping to be able to keep the haunt up until after Halloween — that way, the cost to take down the haunt would not be as great.
After being denied on that front, Peach still wants to build in another location. A time limit was given and Peach incurred the costs of taking down the haunt.
He said much of of the haunt came down in a destructive way due to the time crunch.
“I am appealing to the community, both commercial and residential, for a place to host our Halloween haunt. I have one place in particular that I would like to appeal to, the Tartan Downs in Sydney.
“It’s a fenced in area with parking lot, it’s in the middle of Sydney. I envision my haunt being encased in there and the Tartan Downs could make some money for the rent and it’s good for the community of Sydney.”
Peach says his fans and fellow haunters were let down the most.
“Westside will rise again,” he said. “When the time is right and the location is there, I would love to raise the haunt again.