The Simon Fraser University Foundation is taking the strata corporation for the building at One University Crescent to court over retroactive fines levied for the use of an air conditioner in the building’s penthouse currently occupied by SFU president Andrew Petter.
The foundation filed a petition in BC Supreme Court on August 23 naming the Owners of Strata Plan BCS 1345 as a respondent. According to the petition, Petter currently occupies unit 700, which is made up of two strata lots and takes up the entire seventh floor and top-level penthouse of one of the two buildings at One University Crescent. The university owns all 113 strata lots in the development, the petition says.
“Unit 700 is structurally unique in the building and is subject to excessive heating. Unit 700 has a black flat roof made of concrete. Unlike any other strata lot in that building, the entire top of Unit 700 is the building roof,” the petition states. “Unit 700 was not designed to effectively release heat once absorbed. The heat is trapped and re-radiates within the unit. Even if all the windows and sliding doors are left open, Unit 700 does not have enough time to cool down at night.”
To combat the “excessive heating,” air conditioning units were installed in the summer of 2017, but prompted a complaint about unauthorized renovations. The strata council then denied an approval request for the air conditioners because they would “jeopardize the integrity of the building envelope,” cause excessive noise and “set a precedent that could readily lead to the proliferation of air conditioning units throughout the development, multiplying the potential problems with building integrity and noise.”
The strata council then began issuing fines to SFU for alleged bylaw contraventions, prompting a lengthy exchange of letters between the university, its lawyers and the strata council, culminating in a decision to fine the SFU Foundation $200 every week until the air conditioners are removed.
“The council has acknowledged that others wish to install air conditioning units and that the owners should decide at the next annual general meeting whether the bylaws should be amended,” the petition states. “It is submitted that no such bylaw is necessary because there is no bylaw prohibiting the installation of air conditioning units.”
The foundation seeks a declaration that it is not in breach of the strata corporation’s bylaws and an order to stop the retroactive and continuous fines. The petition’s factual basis has not been tested in court, and the strata corporation had not responded by press time.
