A Thorold resident on Tuliptree Road wants to build a swimming pool, but City Hall won’t give him a permit unless he takes on a $2M liability insurance with the city as a second insuree.
“I’m quickly losing hope that this can even be accomplished and granted by my insurance company,” Christopher Garofalo told Thorold City Council on Tuesday evening.
Tuliptree Road is situated next to the 406, with some backyards going right up to the sound barrier of the highway.
“One of the conditions of approval [for the subdivision] required by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Transportation was the construction of a noise attenuation barrier (Noise Wall) designed to mitigate traffic noise emanating from the adjacent Hwy.406,” writes Director of Public Works Geoff Holman, in a memorandum to City Council.
“As a required design element for the subdivision, it was installed on land transferred to the City of Thorold by the developer.”
But because the backyards of the houses go right up to the wall, homeowners have been encroaching on city-owned land.
Which is why Garofalo would need to have the city on his liability insurance to build his pool.
He told city council on Tuesday evening that he feels singled out because many of his neighbours were already able to build their pools.
“This process should have been seamless seeing all the fellow Tuliptree predecessors who have encroached on the same land,” he said. “Yet I feel like a guinea pig having all these processes experimented and trialled on my behalf and my expense, literally.”
Council members were sympathetic to Garofalo’s plight and asked City Hall staff if Garofalo would be able to build his pool if he put up a temporary fence as a buffer between the pool and the sound barrier.
“The pool by-law identifies that a temporary enclosure is only permitted while the outdoor swimming pool is under construction,” answered Director of Development Services Jason Simpson.
The noise wall next to the highway is in urgent need of repairs and the city is currently trying to negotiate with the homeowners of Tuliptree Road, to come to an encroachment agreement.
But without that agreement, Garofalo and his dreams of a pool are left in limbo.
“The city would not be able to issue a pool permit based on a temporary enclosure because should council not agree to the encroachment agreement then the pool permit has already been issued,” said Simpson.
Luckily, there is a loophole.
“If they’re proposing to build a fence on their property, in compliance with the by-law, the fence would not need to be constructed yet until the pool construction was completed,” said Simpson. “If council came to a resolution prior to that then the pool permit could be amended.”
So as long as Garofalo proposes to build a permanent fence, and he gets MTO approval, the city will be able to issue his pool permit. And now it's up to the city to come to an encroachment agreement with the homeowners on Tuliptree Road in the coming months.
“At the end of the day, all I’m trying to do is provide a fun safe place for my kids to play and to enjoy their own backyard,” Garofalo said.
