Stop work order issued at 216 Cathcart

By Liz MacKenzie

A complaint by a neighbor has triggered a Stop Work Order and an Order to Comply from the city to the owners of 216 Cathcart, who added an illegal 4th storey to the property.

Issued in October, the city’s Or­der to Comply requires the owner to obtain a building permit for the constructed 4th floor, or to obtain a revised permit with approved plans. The order notes that “a 4th floor has been constructed on a three-storey multi-unit residential building” and that “construction complete is not as per approved plans; 4th storey constructed.”

In a letter to councillor Mathieu Fleury, the Lowertown Com­munity Association (LCA) objects the il­legal 4th storey that has been added to construction at 216 Cathcart. The Built Heritage Adviso­ry Committee ap­proved the request for a 3-storey addi­tion in May 2012. At the time, the 3-storey addition was consid­ered by the commit­tee to be out of scale: twice as high and with a footprint four times greater than the original build­ing.

The LCA asks that the building permit for the 4th storey and/or approval of revised plans be refused, and that the building be completed in accor­dance with the original approved plans. Echoing the growing com­munity concerns over the han­dling of many development files in Lowertown, the LCA asked the city to explain how an owner can deliberately disregard the terms of the building permit without triggering a response from the building inspector during con­struction. “At every inspection phase, it should have been clear that the plans were not being fol­lowed. It is also disconcerting that it takes a complaint from a resi­dent to stop construction,” notes the letter to councillor Fleury.

By Liz MacKenzie

A complaint by a neighbor has triggered a Stop Work Order and an Order to Comply from the city to the owners of 216 Cathcart, who added an illegal 4th storey to the property.

Issued in October, the city’s Or­der to Comply requires the owner to obtain a building permit for the constructed 4th floor, or to obtain a revised permit with approved plans. The order notes that “a 4th floor has been constructed on a three-storey multi-unit residential building” and that “construction complete is not as per approved plans; 4th storey constructed.”

In a letter to councillor Mathieu Fleury, the Lowertown Com­munity Association (LCA) objects the il­legal 4th storey that has been added to construction at 216 Cathcart. The Built Heritage Adviso­ry Committee ap­proved the request for a 3-storey addi­tion in May 2012. At the time, the 3-storey addition was consid­ered by the commit­tee to be out of scale: twice as high and with a footprint four times greater than the original build­ing.

The LCA asks that the building permit for the 4th storey and/or approval of revised plans be refused, and that the building be completed in accor­dance with the original approved plans. Echoing the growing com­munity concerns over the han­dling of many development files in Lowertown, the LCA asked the city to explain how an owner can deliberately disregard the terms of the building permit without triggering a response from the building inspector during con­struction. “At every inspection phase, it should have been clear that the plans were not being fol­lowed. It is also disconcerting that it takes a complaint from a resi­dent to stop construction,” notes the letter to councillor Fleury.