Court orders $3M home demolished
Quebec Superior Court has ordered the demolition of a sumptuous Gatineau home that was built too close to the road, with the city required to foot the bill.
In a ruling this week, the court quashed a July 2014 city council resolution that had granted the homeowner an exemption for the home valued at nearly $3 million. The ruling is the latest twist in an eight-year battle over the property.
The ruling described how the home’s owner, Patrick Molla, had thought everything was in order when he was granted permits to build in May 2013. That September, the city discovered the permits had been issued in error, but it never ordered the owner to cease construction. Instead, the ruling said, Molla was told the issue would be resolved with an exemption, and in February 2014 the family moved into the house.
Neighbours, however, complained about the property, saying it didn’t fit with the rest of the neighbourhood and contravened a bylaw because it was not far enough from the street. The bylaw at issue states homes must be at least 15.67 metres from the street, instead of seven metres for the home in question.
Gatineau city council tried to fix the mistake by adopting a resolution in July 2014 ordering a “minor” exemption, but that was nullified in this week’s court ruling. In a 51-page decision Tuesday, Justice Michel Deziel sided with the neighbours who sought to have the exemption declared illegal, alleging it was an abuse of power and a disguised zoning change.
They wanted the house demolished if it could not be made compliant with bylaws. Deziel said that, even if it was a good-faith error on the part of the city, the infringements detailed by the neighbours were too serious to let stand.
The judge placed the blame squarely on the city, saying Molla was given no reason to believe his project would face problems.
“Had he known the risk of eventual demolition, he would not have continued construction on Sept. 25, 2013,” the judgment read. “Reassuring him about this technical error, which will be corrected by a minor exemption at the expense of the city, he continues to invest his ‘retirement fund’ in his house to the tune of approximately $3 million.”
The judge wrote there appeared to be no other option than demolition, and the ruling noted that, while the city asked the court not to order the house’s demolition, it didn’t propose any other solution to the matter.
A message sent to Molla’s lawyer was not immediately returned. Molla is suing the city for $3.6 million, alleging its planning department acted dishonestly in allowing construction to continue despite knowing the consequences of such a decision. Damages sought include $2.95 million in construction costs and six-figure sums for damage to reputation, loss of use of the premises and troubles and inconvenience for the family.