Fines levied against a Vernon family for living on a farm in a fifth wheel contradicting city bylaws have been rescinded by council.
The city decided Monday that nearly $2,800 fines accumulated by Lee and Sondra Watkins will not be enforced in the wake of an earlier decision to allow secondary residents to live on property in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). It followed a long and high-profile battle between the couple and the city.
The Watkins went public with their battle with the city to keep staying in their RV on a four-acre family property in the Blue Jay subdivision back in October.
The couple had been talking with the city to extend their stay in the RV as long as possible, but started receiving fines from bylaw over the last several months.
B次元官网网址淲e wish to continue to fight this for many other properties and people in the same situation,B次元官网网址 the Watkins originally said in a that garnered more than 5,400 signatures since it was launched on Oct. 12.
The decision wasnB次元官网网址檛 without opposition.
Mayor Victor Cumming said rescinding the fines B次元官网网址渄idnB次元官网网址檛 make any sense at all.B次元官网网址
B次元官网网址淲e have bylaws in place. They (Watkins) knowingly did things that were not allowed and we asked bylaws to look into it,B次元官网网址 said Cumming. B次元官网网址淚t doesnB次元官网网址檛 make sense to change the bylaw and make it retroactive. This sets up a whole cycle of chaos.B次元官网网址
Coun. Akbal Mund said the Watkins were a B次元官网网址渟pecial case,B次元官网网址 especially after the city tried to change its bylaw a year ago.
B次元官网网址淲e tried to change it in December 2022. Had it been changed, it would have come into effect in March 2023 and there would have been no fines levied,B次元官网网址 said Mund, who agreed with CummingB次元官网网址檚 argument.
The motion passed by a margin of 4-2.