Two co-defendants were convicted of undertaking a site alteration without a permit contrary to a municipal by-law, having imported a large quantity of gravel to a residential property and graded it to create a commercial truck parking area for a trucking business.
The court imposed fines of $7,500 each — reduced by 25% from the prosecution's request of $10,000 each to account for anticipated remediation costs — and ordered full remediation of the property.
The court rejected the defendants' argument that the driveway maintenance exemption under s. 3.4(3) of the by-law was a mitigating factor, finding it inapplicable on the facts.
The court further held that the absence of proven environmental harm is a neutral, not mitigating, factor.
