Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court
Justice Geoffrey Gomery's ruling was posted online Tuesday.
"This matter has been pending for a long time. It needs to be resolved," the judge said in the decision, which was handed down in February.
The City of Surrey was seeking an injunction that would order the structure to be removed. The city first asked the property owners, Praveen Kaur Koonar and Jaswinder Singh Koonar to remove the structure in April of 2022. After granting a series of extensions of the deadline for its removal, a petition was filed with the court in November of 2023, the judgment says.
A municipal bylaw, the court heard, explicitly states that shipping containers are only allowed in industrial zones with an exception for residential properties only in cases where one is "necessary and accessory to construction in progress and such construction is the subject of a current and valid building permit."
In court, the property owners conceded that no construction has been in progress on their property but argued that they should be allowed to keep the structure because it was actually a "storage shed."
Accordingly, the central question Gomery had to answer was whether the structure itself was prohibited by the bylaw.
"The structure that we are concerned with, is either a shipping container or it is not," he wrote.
In making his decision, the judge described photos of the structure.
"It looks like a shipping container. It has language on the side including the statement of caution 'nine foot six-inch-high container.' It has serial numbers, an indication of its cubic capacity, the weight of goods that it can hold, and so on. These are all consistent with the appearance of the thing as a shipping container," he wrote.
But he also noted that it has a door and windows, which the Koonars argued made it unusable as a shipping container. In addition, they argued that it was a shed because they were using it for storage and not for transporting goods.
Gomery disagreed.
"I think the submission is untenable. It would permit any shipping container to be placed on property and cease to become a shipping container as soon as it was used for some purposes other than the immediate shipment of goods and I cannot imagine that is what the bylaw intends," he wrote.
"Underlying the bylaw is the thought that shipping containers, by their appearance, not necessarily their use, are inconsistent with the residential character of homes in Surrey," Gomery's decision also said.
The city's request for an injunction was granted and the property owners were given 30 days to comply with the bylaw by removing the structure.
In a transcript of the exchange in court following the decision, Gomery explained to the Koonars what, precisely, the order means.
"The order does not prevent you from having a storage shed, but you cannot have a storage shed that is a shipping container. It will have to be some other kind of storage shed," he said.
The Koonars were also ordered to pay the City of Surrey $1,000 in costs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
1 person killed and 23 injured in a bus crash in northern Maryland, police say
One person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed early Sunday on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland, police said.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
‘Love has no boundaries’: Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.