Teens get evicted from fort

[twobits]

Everyone is talking about "the bylaw". Which bylaw ?

The fort was on private property. So I'd suspect that this would have something to do with building a structure (that's a real stretch, from looking at the photo's) without a building permit.

So who would the City of Penticton Bylaw Enforcement people talk to, to enforce the building bylaw ? Some kids who don't live on the property ? Their parents that don't live there and don't have any legal responsibility for the property ?

OR...... the owner of the property, who then would be responsible for removing the "structure".

Again, non of this makes sense.

Oh for lord's sake of course it makes sense. Someone complained about unsightly property. That is a bylaw. Perhaps what is absent in the news article is that this area does not have a home with an assessed value of less than 1.5 million.
So some hard *bleep* complained and bylaw is required to investigate. Whether they got in touch with the property owner or determined who the kids were is moot.
Bottom line is the kids lost their fort because.....
Some anal neighbour exercised their right......
and bylaw officers responded as legally required......
or mom didn't tell the boys that they should not be doing that on private property.....
or the actual property owner was contacted and realized they could have a mess to clean up or an insurance liability for potential injury if they ignored the notice from bylaw.

Does that help make sense given our litigious society?

[Poindexter]

I was thinking these kids should have medals for being off social media, unlike most of us adults!

Not so fast with the medals, it did occur to me that the only reason they built the fort so close to home was to stay connected to WiFi.

[twobits]

Not so fast with the medals, it did occur to me that the only reason they built the fort so close to home was to stay connected to WiFi.

Doubt it. In this area even 10 yr olds will have a 5 gig data plan on their smartphone.

[fluffy]

I wonder if allowing such a structure to stand on their land opens the owners up to any liability in the event of a mishap?

[Queen K]

Yes in todays lawsuit driven World, that is a sensible thought.

<------------at the lawsuit driven World, not you being sensible.

[alanjh595]

I wonder if allowing such a structure to stand on their land opens the owners up to any liability in the event of a mishap?

Who assumes liability for the homeless that set up camp in a park?

[fluffy]

Who assumes liability for the homeless that set up camp in a park?

Good question, but more than a little off topic here.

[Bsuds]

I would like to have seen pictures of the "Fort". If it was dangerous and someone could have been hurt then it needed to come down.

On private property would have been an issue as well and if the Mother didn't have a problem with it then why not build it on their own property?

[MAPearce]

Why is there even a question about this? It is on PRIVATE land, the boys did not have permission. MOM - you are teaching your boys if you do something illegal and whine and sniv long enough and loud enough you might get your way. How about teaching them to respect private property first. These "lovingly made" structures eventually get neglected and break down and there's a mess of screws and nails and debris for hikers, dogs, horses etc to deal with. Pretty sure the boys aren't left with absolutely nothing left to do without the fort.

If it were my land ... I'd let them build a fort , castle , bmx track , paint ball palace or whatever takes kids from inside to the outside .... If they did it without my permission , I'd stand up for them after the fact ..

Straight up BC Girl .. It's people like you who are the biggest detriment to our future by constantly chiding youth for heir ingenuity ....

They weren't hurting anyone .. leave them alone .

And By law ... you suck . straight up .. get lives .

[MAPearce]

I wonder if allowing such a structure to stand on their land opens the owners up to any liability in the event of a mishap?

the best way to ruin a kids fun is to "ask a lawyer" first .. Second , is to ask a grown up if " it's ok " ........

Kids made a fort outside man ..... why is that such a big deal ?

[fluffy]

Kids made a fort outside man ..... why is that such a big deal ?

In many cases it wouldn’t be, but...location, location, location.

[twobits]

If it were my land ... I'd let them build a fort , castle , bmx track , paint ball palace or whatever takes kids from inside to the outside .... If they did it without my permission , I'd stand up for them after the fact ..

Straight up BC Girl .. It's people like you who are the biggest detriment to our future by constantly chiding youth for heir ingenuity ....

They weren't hurting anyone .. leave them alone .

And By law ... you suck . straight up .. get lives .

That's a little harsh considering times have changed considerably since you were buildings a fort in the neighbouring bush as a youth. And I am not saying it is a good thing, just a new reality of litigious people. Very recently we've had people trip over a tree root in grass no higher than the lawn mower blade and a ribfest patron that didn't see that the bottom concrete stair had settled to an inch more than legal specs for rise/run of stair treads that thousands of people had safely navigated the same day and are suing the City for serious coin.
I am sorry but as a property owner, I would not want this structure on my land which just invites more people to visit to check it out. One of them will step on a nail in a board and I will be forced to hire a lawyer. No thanks but I'll err on the side of caution before I am forced to defend myself for a liability I didn't create.
Perhaps "Mom" should contact her insurance underwriter and see if she can get her liability insurance to cover perils her son has created on someone else's property? Wonder how that conversation would go?
The worst thing about your post is attacking Bylaw Officers. They "suck, get lives" is just a pathetic attack on civil servants just doing their jobs. They were responding to a complaint as they are legally required to do and enforce the applicable bylaw infraction(s).
So go ahead and let some kids build a BMX track on your land. I hope none of them breaks a bone or their neck and you have to argue with your insurance company about why they won't cover you and you are going to be financially wiped out.

[Jhunter199]

It's truly pitiful how we have progressed as a society and a civilization. How did we get so far in the wrong direction while continuing to make such huge advancements. What happened to the day when you made a mistake and got hurt, you accepted that you messed up, dusted yourself off, and learned from it? It's left us all worried about liability insurance, are we covered enough? It really does suck now! instead of learning from mistakes, we blame others and stand there with our hands out and expect to be compensated. I guess gone are the days of good clean fun.

[vinnied]

Coincidently, the spot where the fort stood now has water flowing through it, after Thursday's rainstorm in the region. Sherry said while walking her dog that she had never seen water flowing in that location until Friday.

Whats that all about?

[Bunnyhop]

Coincidently, the spot where the fort stood now has water flowing through it, after Thursday's rainstorm in the region. Sherry said while walking her dog that she had never seen water flowing in that location until Friday.

Whats that all about?

I doubt the flooding is related to the fort being put up.

Ive never seen Willowbrook flooded before either but there was no mention of forts being built up there.