Robin Bennett wins two petitions against the City of Richmond

On March 30, 2020, the BC Supreme Court released twin decisions in Minster Enterprises Ltd. v. City of Richmond and Yu v. City of Richmond.

Robin Bennett of Allen / McMillan Litigation Counsel acted for the petitioners in both proceedings. The issue before the court was whether the City was reasonable to conclude that the petitioners’ building permits had expired due to “construction”, as defined in the City’s Building Regulation Bylaw, not commencing within 6 months of the permits being issued. However, in both cases, the properties had been preloaded at the relevant time, a process in which a large quantity of sand is deposited in order to compress the underlying ground in advance of building. Once the ground is sufficiently compacted – which typically takes months or even years – the preload is removed and construction proceeds. Finding that the bylaw’s definition of “construction” was broad enough to include preloading, the Court set aside the City’s decision and reinstated the petitioners’ building permits.

The City of Richmond is appealing both decisions.