Letter from Joseph Gereluk, Barrister & Solicitor RE: 17 Eaton Avenue

Correspondence from Joseph Gereluk, Law Office

October 23, 2020

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria, British Columbia V9B 1A6

Hand Delivered

Attention: Sarah Jones — Corporate Officer submission to the Town of View Royal Council

Dear Mesdames/Sirs:

Re: 17 Eaton Avenue (the “Property”) Rohanieh Manshadi and Ardeshir Seisen — (the “Owners”)

We thank Council for View Royal Town for the time provided to obtain and provide material in support of the Owners’ submissions for a resolution to the matter concerning the breezeway attached to the residence on the Property.

Our letter dated September 02, 2020 (copy attached) set out a brief history of the matter before council.

The issues as described in the September 02, 2020 letter remain outstanding and the Owners continue to seek a resolution to the issue raised therein including the possibility of a variance or rezoning application.

It appears, from discussions with the planning department, that neither option, variance or rezoning, are available. The Property was re-zoned to CD-5A (Mixed Residential – Small Lot) in 2011 (copy of proposed subdivision attached).

We believe that a visual review of the breezeway in its current, enclosed state, may be of some importance to the View Royal Council members so that the council members would have a visual understanding of the matter.

Therefore, we attached copies of pictures of the breezeway as it exists. Pictures #1 - #5 depict the exterior of the walls enclosing the breezeway. Pictures #6 - #12 depict the interior of the walls that include, in pictures #8 and 9, pictures of the flooring.

The interior of the walls and the flooring is unfinished as it is the intention of the Owners to retain the breezeway as a covered area in the nature of a patio.

We have communicated with an architect for the purpose of gaining professional, architectural assistance in relation to the issue of the breezeway enclosure that is currently before council.

That assistance was sought for the Owners to be advised with respect to regulatory restrictions on site coverage in the municipality and to obtain and provide possible alternatives to the current situation in respect of the breezeway enclosure.

Unfortunately, architectural services are in high demand in the current market and we were unable to secure that assistance at this time.

As a result of our communications with the View Royal planning department the options to find a solution to the matter with respect to the breezeway appear to be limited.

The Owners are seeking council’s consideration of the circumstances, set out above and in the September 02, 2020 letter, under which the Owners may retain the breezeway and protect the exterior of the residence from the elements.

Those circumstances result in a hardship to the Owners if they are required to be in compliance of the View Royal zoning bylaw for CD-5A zoned property as a result of the “siting, size or dimensions” of the breezeway (a copy of the CD-5A zoning bylaw is attached).

Accordingly, a Development Variance Application is attached with the documents appended as indicated therein. The fees will be paid when, and in the amount required.

The Owners will be available to provide further information at your request.

Yours truly,

Joseph Gereluk

---

September 02, 2020

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria, British Columbia V9B 1A6

Hand Delivered

Attention: Sarah Jones — Corporate Officer submission to the Town of View Royal Council

Dear Mesdames/Sirs:

Re: 17 Eaton Avenue (the “Property”)

We have been requested to assist the owners of the Property in the matter that is set to be before council on September 8, 2020.

This matter was before the View Royal council on July 21, 2020 and was adjourned to September 8, 2020.

The Property owners, one of which is a health care worker, had expected to have proceeded with an action plan before this date but the opportunity to meet, until late August was not available for reasons outside of the owners’ and our control.

The issues, that have been identified in the previous communications include matters relating to the breezeway and the deck that have been constructed on the Property.

We do confirm that the owners have maintained a sincere desire to proceed towards a resolution to the issues and have, as set out in my last letter, ceased to market the Property.

We have visited the Property and have been requested to provide the following background information.

The background:

The Property was purchased by the current owners and a residence constructed thereon in 2013.

At the time the construction on the Property included a breezeway of wood construction attached to the residence that measured approximately 50 sq. meters and was consisted of a wood floor, a roof, a wall on the end opposite to the residence and supporting pillars on each side.

The breezeway was intended for use by the owners and their family members as an area where they could have outside activities, either individually or with others, especially during those times when the weather was not supportive of outside, open air, activities.

It became apparent that the breezeway was constructed in such a way and in a location that it was subject to extreme wind conditions that resulted in driving rain that made the breezeway unusable, resulted in damage to the residence and unsafe for use.

Accordingly, and unfortunately without consulting the applicable zoning or building requirements for the area, the owners took the steps of closing in the breezeway to allow the use of the breezeway and protect the building itself.

Subsequently, in or about 2016, the matter of the breezeway was brought to the attention of the View Royal Building department and there were a number of communications between View Royal and the owners.

Copies of those communications were attached to the Town of View Royal — Council Report dated July 14, 2020 together with what appears to be communications from a third party.

In the result, based on the communications and their understanding of the issues, the owners determined that the proper approach was to apply for a Development permit and/or a variance to permit the construction of a deck.

We note that the owners did proceed in what they believed was the appropriate manner by submitting an application for a renovation dated June 27, 2016 and responding to requests thereafter.

The letter from the Town of View Royal dated June 30, 2016 did not appear to provide a possible resolution to the rejection of the application with respect to enclosure of the breezeway and the deck construction but did provide that the proposed deck would require a Development Permit or variance for lot coverage.

However, a concern was raised with respect to the deck that indicated the height of the deck may be an issue. The owners have taken images of the height measurement that will be submitted to the appropriate department if permitted.

The Property owners have been advised of the Town of View Royal’s concerns and desire and are willing to take the necessary steps, acting in good faith, to seek and obtain approval for a resolution of the issues noted above.

We have been requested to assist in that regard and we trust, that during these trying times, we expect to be able to proceed in a manner satisfactory to all parties concerned.

In that regard we are seeking an additional time to approach the Town of View Royal for the purpose of determining next steps in the procedure and perhaps with consideration of a time frame within which those steps can be reasonably accomplished.

We therefore request that council consider granting a further adjournment of this matter to a date to be set to permit the owners to make submissions and applications to the Town of View Royal Planning and Building department staff as may be required and expedient.