Brampton facing $1.5M snow suit
City denies its new building causes drifts on adjacent roof
The city of Brampton has been hit with another lawsuit over its new $205-million city hall building, this time for allegedly causing snow to pile up on an adjacent structure.
The $1.5-million lawsuit was filed by Inzola Main St. Inc., the same developer that filed a $28.5-million lawsuit against the city in 2011 over its disqualification from bidding on the controversial project.
Because of the size of the new city hall building and its proximity to a building immediately next to it owned by Inzola, “incremental snow load on the Inzola building has caused and will cause substantial stress and damage to the Inzola building,” the lawsuit’s statement of claim alleges. The city denies the allegations. The legal action was initiated in last spring, after a winter that saw heavy snow. The statement of claim describes the L-shaped 10-storey city hall building which “wraps around” the two-storey Inzola building, with both structures being “directly against” each other on one side and less than two metres apart on another side. The claim alleges that the city hall design has created a “snow barrier” that sends excessive amounts of snow onto Inzola’s roof.
In addition to the city of Brampton, the builder Dominus and property owner Fengate LP are named in the statement of claim.
The statement of defence by all three named parties disputes the lawsuit’s claims, including those about excessive snow buildup.
“Dominus examined this issue and it was determined that the design of the new building would not change the snow accumulation patterns of the Inzola building and other neighbouring properties . . . The new building did not cause any new snow loads on the Inzola building and the new building does not constitute a nuisance.” The statement of defence also contends the city hall building is nine storeys, not 10.
In the previous lawsuit, which is ongoing, Inzola alleges that it was unfairly disqualified from bidding on the project because senior city staff and former Brampton mayor Susan Fennell were biased in favour of Dominus. In its statement of defence, the city denies Inzola’s allegations and states the lawsuit is an attempt to “smear” Fennell’s name.
There are no allegations against Dominus in the 2011 statement of claim by Inzola. Dominus has stated that it followed all of the rules of the bidding process.
In the latest lawsuit, the claim cites Ontario Building Code regulations that require designers of new buildings to consider snow loads on lower adjacent buildings within five metres.
“The City should not have issued the building permit for the City Hall addition, and Dominus should not have constructed the City Hall addition as it did, without first having conducted a thorough and complete snow load analysis,” the claim states.
In response, the statement of defence says: “Dominus complied with all statutory requirements and was granted a building permit. The building was designed and constructed in accordance with the Ontario Building Code.”
The case has not yet gone to trial.