Staff at the District of Lake Country are recommending the father of longtime NHL star Jarome Iginla tear down a retaining wall at his Carr's Landing residence and rebuild it after it was constructed in contravention of the building permit granted for the property.
Elvis Iginla, a well-known and successful lawyer in Edmonton and the father of longtime NHL star Jarome, has owned a Carr's Lake residence for at least 10 years, but the development of the property has had several issues over the years surrounding the construction of four retaining walls.
Built on a steep slope along the shore of Okanagan Lake in Carr's Landing—and one house down from the much larger and gated residence of his son Jarome—Elvis Iginla has built a series of retaining walls on the steep property, one as high as six metres to support a tennis court.
But according to the District of Lake Country, the four retaining walls have been built in a different configuration than what was originally approved by the district as the construction plans changed to include a putting green along with the tennis court.
One wall specifically was built on Lake Country property encroaching on the district right-of-way and possibly impacting water and sewer infrastructure lines while an updated geo-technical report was never provided to Lake Country's planning department.
The file appeared at Lake Country council last week but the applicant had requested a delay so it was not dealt with. Ultimately it will be up to council whether the construction of the wall that encroaches on the district's land can stay or will have to be re-built.
"If council wishes to leave (the wall) as is they need to amend the development permit and make some sort of arrangement for the encroachment of the wall," said Mark Koch, Lake Country's director of community services. "Alternatively it would have to be reconstructed and built on (the owner's) property."
Appearing at the council meeting on Iginla's behalf was Chris Bataluk, a solicitor in the Edmonton offices of Iginla and Company, a personal injury lawfirm with offices in Edmonton and Calgary.
Bataluk was not able to address council as the file was deferred to a future meeting, but when contacted by the Lake Country Calendar, said Iginla hopes to settle the issue with an encroachment agreement with Lake Country and hopes to keep the wall in its current location.
"He would prefer not to do so but if it became necessary he would be prepared to (re-build it)," said Bataluk. "During construction of the wall the contractor had inadvertently crossed into the district right of way."
After initially approving the construction of four retaining walls on the property, staff noticed the configuration had changed in January of this year with the addition of a putting green to the property, to go along with the tennis court. Staff advised Iginla in August that a revised geotechnical assessment and revised landscape plan were required to complete the amendment application. However as of early this month, the requested items had not been received. Staff also suggested safety railings be built at the top of the property due to safety concerns. Those have not been built either.
Neighbors of the Iginla's say neither father nor son are at their Lake Country property's much, aside from a a few weeks or a month or two in the summer.