Residents lose skirmish over motorsport noise

Residents living near the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit in the Cowichan Valley have suffered a setback in their bid to reduce noise at the driving facility.

In June 2017, six neighbours filed a lawsuit against VIMC and the Municipality of North Cowichan because of what they considered to be excessive noise coming from the tracks. As part of their claim, they asked the court to make orders that would declare VIMC in violation of the municipality’s zoning and noise bylaws. They also sought an injunction against VIMC’s driving facility.

The residents wanted those orders because the municipality said VIMC’s use of the site complies with its zoning and noise bylaws.

Last month, the municipality and VIMC applied to the court to strike the claims against the municipality on the basis that they were an abuse of process and had no chance of success.

The neighbours disagreed. They asked the court to interpret and enforce the North Cowichan bylaws differently.

In his decision, B.C. Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh said the neighbours, as a matter of law, “cannot seek to compel the enforcement of a municipal bylaw, absent an allegation of bad faith, which is not made here.

“The decisions of how and when to enforce municipal bylaws are within the sole province of the enacting municipality,” Macintosh wrote in his judgment.

The claims against the municipality were an abuse of process because they constitute an attack on the municipality’s application of its bylaws, he said.

All claims against the municipality have been removed. The claim of nuisance, which alleges that VIMC unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of the properties of the residents, continues and is expected to be heard next fall.

The neighbours are entitled to show, if they can, that bylaw noise limits are being violated, the judge said.

Macintosh ordered the neighbours to pay costs to the municipality and VIMC.