B.C. judge orders clean-up of ‘unsightly’ Prince George yard littered with over 100 derelict cars

The yard in Prince George, B.C., was home to over 100 derelict cars. (shutterstock.com)

The owner of a property in Prince George who turned their yard into an unofficial scrapyard with over 100 derelict vehicles has been ordered by a B.C. judge to remove the cars and clean up the mess as it violates the district’s zoning and “unsightly premises” bylaws.

The details of the case were laid out in a Supreme Court decision made by Justice Kenneth Ball March 7, which was posted online March 10.

According to the decision, Thomas Stander had received letters from the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George dating as far back as 2018 requesting he bring his car-laden property into compliance with its bylaws.

The district alleged the land wasn’t in compliance with a section of its unsightly premises bylaw, which states a property is “unsightly” if it has more than two derelict vehicles on site that are not kept within an enclosed building or being used for business. A property could also be deemed unsightly if there is an accumulation of rubbish or graffiti, or if there are collapsed or dilapidated buildings on the land.

The district alleged the property also violated a zoning bylaw that prohibits the land being used as storage space, or as a vehicle storage yard.

In the decision, Ball said the district had been seeking a solution to the problem with Stander, and before him with Stander’s father, for a number of years “without a positive response.”

The state of the yard was determined by the district during a series of inspections that began in the summer of 2019.

The first deemed the property to have a “large number” of vehicles present, some of which were in “obvious states of disrepair” or had missing parts. Wooden pallets and other rubbish littered the yard, the decision said.

The district sent Stander a letter confirming the inspection, stating that he was breaching a zoning bylaw, and his breach should be rectified by September that year. Another letter of request was sent in December.

A second inspection in May 2020 determined at least 134 vehicles were stashed on the land, at least 37 of which had “significant damage,” the decision said. Many of the cars were swamped by tall grass and moss, and the yard was littered with piles of scrap, including car parts, the bodies of snowmobiles or jet skis, various scrap materials, traffic cones, and tarps.

A third visit in November found no changes had been made by Stander to rectify his yard’s appearance, and during a fourth visit, in July 2022, the district observed “at least 165 vehicles” that appeared to be derelict, alongside “multiple piles of materials” that were “substantially similar” to those seen in previous visits, the decision said.

Ball ordered Stander to clean up the property and remove all but 10 of his vehicles within 90 days. Only two of those 10 could be derelict, Ball said.

Should Stander refuse or not clean up the mess within 90 days, Ball said the district has permission to enter the property and seize the items, at Stander’s expense.