Teens get evicted from fort

[WVRR2010]

Back when there was nothing but acres of swamp and bush in the south east Kelowna area my friends and I spend days building a 'fort' using nothing but fallen trees. The whole thing came together with not a single nail or other manufactured item of any kind. The person who passed for the 'bylaw officer' at the time had us removed from the site suggesting it was agricultural land. I am surprised that the mean spirited individual is still alive after all these years. Or perhaps it's just an Okanagan thing.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#221996

[vinnied]

Its unfortunate that society today deprives kids from being real kids and doing things like this, But I guess its back to the 4 inch screen and social media for entertainment. one complaint is all it takes. The person who complained should have thought about it for a second though. No mess, never saw a homeless person around. why complain??
And the bylaw officer could have been a little more lenient after discovering it was just kids trying to be real kids for a change.
shame on you.

[MAPearce]

^^^ I know , right ?

kids can't even have a lemonaide stand with out by law or the health dept. screwing it all up ...

Heck , I remember being able to ride my bike with a "borrowed" shopping cart tied to the back full of stuff I "found" to the vacant lot where me and my buddies built our fort ...

Shame on ALL the kid haters .

[wisdom01]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton ... -from-fort

Sad ... big tough Bylaw Enforcement Officers will take down some kids fort but won't shoo the panhandlers off the street ...

[nordhausen]

Bylaw bullies, brown shirts, trumpers all cut from the same cloth...

[BC Girl]

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.

[alanjh595]

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.

What about the "hikers, dogs, and horses" that are also on that piece of private property? Maybe the property should be fenced off and keep ALL TRESPASSERS off the land?

[Anonymous123]

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.

Wouldn't those "hikers, dogs, horses etc" be on "PRIVATE land" as well?

[87HAIRBANDS]

BC Girl, I'm curious if these "hikers, dogs, horses etc" get permission first? Based on your anal comments I suspect you already know that this is a wooded area, not someone's yard. Like a previous poster eluded, this is as "illegal" as a kid's lemonade stand and it's a sad day for our society when we feel the need to over-regulate childhood activities like this. As aptly noted, this is strictly Penticton's bylaw officials opting to pick on an easy target yet again while ignoring the bigger safety issues downtown. I'm glad that the real snivelers and whiners are pleased to be making a difference in the world for all those trespassing hikers, dogs and horses out there.

[BC Girl]

Ni kid hating here, just the way they're being raised. Hikers etc should know same rules. Possibly they have permission. This isn't just passing through this is bringing stuff onto someone else's property and thinking it's ok. The point if my post is - get permission first or anticipate some repercussions later on. The parents could have helped the situation by seeking permission and showed the boys a little life lesson. Not everything is yours for the taking

[cubafreak]

Being that the boys that built this fort are 14 years old, we all know this will not be a permanent structure..as they grow older their interests will change. I think it is a good thing that they were outside building a fort (something that you don't hear much of these days) but alas I guess some people think it would be better for them to be hidden inside the house playing video games. When I was a kid we played outside and constructed lots of things and maybe it was on property that didn't belong to us but what was the harm? It isn't like these boys were doing malicious damage to the property. Let kids be kids again!!! To me this was a great way for them to work on skills and have some fun!

[vinnied]

I'm sorry. Where in the storey does it say they were trespassing on private property. The way I understood the article they were probably on crown land. Kids have been doing this sort of stuff since forever. The problem is someone thought it was homeless people....or did they?

[alanjh595]

From the OP article link.

"A complaint to our office was received, and officers attended to discover what appeared to be a camp shelter on a private vacant lot,"

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Homeless people build on the ground.
Too much like extra work to build up in the air..

[my5cents]

I'm sorry. Where in the storey does it say they were trespassing on private property. The way I understood the article they were probably on crown land. Kids have been doing this sort of stuff since forever. The problem is someone thought it was homeless people....or did they?

The story does say "A complaint to our office was received, and officers attended to discover what appeared to be a camp shelter on a private vacant lot, bylaw supervisor Tina Seibert said in regards to why the notice was given."

This leaves me to wonder, why the bylaw office was involved in a children's fort erected on private property. Are they saying they did so because it was constructed without a building permit ?

I'm glad the City of Penticton has time to conduct this type of petty problem, I'm sure they'll have lots of time to work on the flooding and pot holes.

To: "BC Girl", What are you talking about "Mom - are you teaching your boys if you do something illegal ......."

They are kids, trying to be kids. I guess in your perfect world, children play in play clothes in a park, playing prescribed games, not yelling too loud, not being too disruptive, or better still out of site and out of mind in the house, watching TV or playing on an iPad.

I remember people like you, I did illegal things too. Police were called on me on a regular basis. Playing road hockey on a residential street in front of my house. Unfortunately a half a block for a retirement home. Apparently the occupants had nothing better to do than to diligently watch for kids playing on the street and report same to the police.

Oh, the police, their take on it ? "Hey kids, we've got another complaint, nod your heads, walk to the side of the road, wait 3 minutes for me to get out of the area, and have fun playing".

That's part of what gave me respect for the police and concern for when I got old and hoped I wasn't a grumpy mean old person.