Snow pile hazardous: residents

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Residents of some townhouses on Stillview Road in Pointe Claire say they are very upset at the owner of an apartment building and parking lot behind their properties. They say he has illegally dumped all of this winter's voluminous amounts of snow on top of a narrow servitude belonging to Pointe Claire and also over their own fences, pushing the white stuff into their backyards.

"One of my neighbours has an in-ground pool, which is going to thaw in the spring," said Peter Ascoli, a Stillview resident.

With children frequently clambering on top of the large piles of snow covering the servitude lane and fences, Ascoli was concerned with what could happen if they slipped and fell into the pool.

"That lane is used by Hydro Quebec," said Charles Turner, retired, who lives two doors down from Ascoli in another townhouse. "What if the power goes off? How are they supposed to get in there?" He asked.

"The situation has been passed on to our public security department and they are going to investigate," said Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie.

The apartment building and parking lot in question are on Bruce Street in Kirkland, just west of Stillview in Pointe Claire. Sandwiched between the building with its lot and the townhouses' backyard fences is the snow-covered lane in question.

Last Wednesday, the piles were still high enough to easily give anyone who climbs over them access to the homeowners' backyards with a single jump down.

"This has never happened in the past," Ascoli said. According to him, in previous years the building's owner simply had contractors clear the lot's snow by pushing it to its north and south, rather than eastward on top of the lane and backyard fences.

"That lane is the only way for us to get out the back of the house (in case of a fire hazard)," said Angie Turner, Charles Turner's wife.

Telephone calls for comment to a company that advertises rental space on a sign in front of the apartment were not returned as of press time.