A property owner who Squamish bylaw officers deemed in contravention of the town's unsightly premises regulations was shocked to return home last week to find every piece of greenery removed from his corner lot.
"It was a total shock to me, especially when they cut out my pine tree," said Fraser.
"There is not one bit of vegetation left between the road and my fence. From the rose bushes to the pine tree, it is all gone. It is pure desolation and emptiness."
Fraser's Valleycliffe property on Guilford and Arbutus Drive had been the subject of numerous bylaw visits for contravening unsightly premises regulations.
Problems began in August 2009 when Fraser's neighbour complained over the state of his yard. Fraser cleaned up and his file was closed in March 2010, according to staff reports.
But another complaint surfaced in April 2010 when Fraser piled items outside his home before bringing them to Free Dump Days. He bought a shed at bylaw's behest and began storing items away from sight.
Then in July, he was replacing rotten boards in his deck when he received a visit from a municipal building inspector stating he needed a building permit for the repairs.
"It's pure harassment. I don't know what it is," said Fraser, who never got the permit and still has a half-finished deck on his house.
Shortly thereafter, another complaint arose over strewn about decking material.
This time a municipal notice ordered him to clean his "yard and cut grass and weeds both on his property and on the boulevards that abut the property."
Feeling unfairly targetted, Fraser said he decided to take a stand against mowing and weeding the ditch that surrounded his property.
"That's municipal property," he said. "They've always taken care of that."
In response, a staff report was presented to council July 20 stating he had "decking materials, miscellaneous objects and rubbish strewn about the property, rather than being piled in a neat and orderly manner," and requesting that council authorize the RCMP to execute a forced clean up.
That meant the district or a contractor would do the work and bill Fraser through his property taxes. Clean up crews arrived while Fraser was at work Wednesday, Aug. 25.
He said they went overboard.
"I have lost two rose bushes, salmon berry bush, the laurel bush, the 20-foot pine tree, six-foot mountain ash tree and a few small cedars. A complete urban garden destroyed," he said.
"All the salmon berries along the fence were removed. In my garden they removed five boxwood forming the border, cut out the poppies and cut out my hydrangea bush. The only thing left is my fence. All privacy in my yard is gone with that indigenous garden."
The clean up crews also removed from his yard orange plastic mesh fencing that kept his dogs from jumping over a section of his fence as well as wire mesh entangled with overgrown vegetation, and they placed plywood under the deck.
They also lowered his patio umbrella, placed his patio chairs neatly around the table, and placed his candleholder in the middle of the table.
However if they were indeed there to clean up, asks Fraser, why did they leave debris, weeds and tall grass in the ditch as well as the two bags of garbage he'd stored against his house?
In an emailed response to inquiries, Acting Mayor Bryan Raiser listed the clean up crew's work.
"Outside trees [were cut due to] fence sightline or cut due to [the] fact they were tied back with ropes as they were starting to break away from the tree itself. All other trees that were touched were only trimmed, not removed. All other weeds and grass cut were both on his property and on the boulevard."
Raiser said bylaw officers "are confident nothing was removed from his property."
"I think the problem is with the subjectivity of it all," he added. "The work was done by professional landscapers under the supervision of the bylaw officer."
Fraser is not satisfied. He wants his bushes back, and he said he'll be filing complaints and researching options for restitution.
Meanwhile, he doesn't believe he's heard the last of bylaw.
"I can only wait to see if I will be fined for cutting down a 20-foot pine tree and contravening the Tree Removal Bylaw."
