Surrey council during a special meeting in chambers on May 20 directed city staff to file a notice on title pursuant to Section 57 of the Community Charter alerting the public to unpermitted construction at two local properties, one in North Surrey and the other in South Surrey.
The notices serve to alert potential buyers, lenders, and insurers about sites of illegal construction and the potential risks associated with the properties. Since July 2024, there have been six special council meetings that led to the filing of a notice on title on 10 different properties.
The North Surrey was at 16460 93A Ave. A corporate report from Trevor Welsh, director of Surrey's building division and Douglas Gardiner, a building inspector, recommending that council order a notice on title pursuant to Section 57 of the Community Charter indicates Tarsem Singh Phagura and Rajbinder Kaur Phagura bought the property in May 2005 and remain its registered owners as joint tenants.
The report reveals the City of Surrey became aware of the unpermitted construction in July 2020 and since then city staff were on site numerous times and confirm the property contains the following unpermitted construction: a two-storey accessory building with a dwelling unit; a two-storey addition to the House including rooftop deck; three dwelling units in the basement of the house; a bedroom in the upper floor of the house; and a laundry room at the rear of the house.
Five bylaw contravention notices 鈥� to a total $2,500 鈥� were issued to the owners as well as eight site visit fees for a total of $1,712.00. "The bylaw fines remain unpaid; however, the site visit fees have been paid," the report states.
Assistant city solicitor Guillermo Flores told council Mr. Phagura was "evidently aware of the requirement to obtain a building permit but he did not do so in relation to the unpermitted construction. Whatever his explanation or excuse is, the fact remains that even when a stop-work order was posted on the property he continued with the construction."
Flores said it's "clear in this case the owners had no regard for the stop-work order."
The owners' lawyer, Dean Davison, requested an adjournment. He said city staff spoke with contractors rather than his client.
"It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they did not pass on the inspector's comments to the property owner," Davison said. He said the Phaguras are "looking to rectify this problem," that there appears to be no safety issues or urgency to the matter, and the prospect of demolition is "a very heavy-handed next step and in light of asking for an adjournment, I'm not saying to bless it or make it OK, but in light of no safety issues, no real urgency, it seems like an adjournment is a reasonable compromise for now. And if demolition is the necessary requirement, my clients should have an opportunity to show the City that they are trying to be compliant."
Flores said the owners constructed a two-storey accessory building, a two-storey addition, a rooftop deck, multiple dwelling units and a bedroom "all without permits and in complete disregard of the stop-work order. The stop-work order was posted upon the property more than once."
"Any issue between the owner and the contractor is between the both of them, however that doesn't relieve the owner of the responsibility of obtaining a building permit for the construction that he undertook."
The South Surrey case, at 17669 40 Ave., is the subject of from Welsh and building inspector Reece Garcea that also recommended council order a notice on title. It indicates Manmeet Singh Dhesi, Avtar Singh Dhesi, and Palwinder Kaur Dhesi purchased the property in November 2015 and remain the registered owners as joint tenants.
City staff became aware of the unpermitted construction in June 2023 and since then have made numerous trips to the address and confirm the property contains unpermitted construction including: adding a second floor inside the barn at the property and creating five dwelling units within the barn; constructing a detached garage; constructing two greenhouses; installing an attached carport to the garage to the house; installing a high roof structure to the entry of the house; and constructing a shed to the north of the barn.
Four bylaw contravention notices to a total of $2,000 and eight site visit fees were issued for a total of $1,712. "The bylaw contravention notices remain unpaid; however, the site visit fees have been paid," this report also states.
Assistant city solicitor Komal Gill argued the City's case on this one. The owners did not make submissions before council.
Gill said city staff used a variety of enforcement tools seeking compliance. "However, these efforts have not been successful.
"What was originally approved as a barn has been converted into a building containing five dwelling units," she noted. "So in summary the owners deliberately carried out extensive unpermitted construction while significantly converting the barn into an apartment-like building containing five dwelling units. The owners have had sufficient opportunity and time to bring the property into compliance."
Meantime, on March 31 the City of Surrey added one Whalley and one Newton property to its list of houses it has filed a notice on title on since launching its crackdown on illegal residential construction in 2022.
Those two properties 鈥� 9040 Skye Place and 6718 140A Street 鈥� before a special council meeting at City Hall on March 31 for illegal construction and occupying buildings without permits, contrary to Surrey's Building Bylaw.
On April 27, 2022, the City of Surrey launched its to crack down on unpermitted residential construction in Surrey. Doug McCallum, who was mayor at the time, noted then that illegal construction is "six times more likely to result in serious safety issues such as injury or death and can also cause dangerous environmental issues" and "is just not worth the risk to yourself, your investment, or occupants.鈥�
