Company fined $86K for destruction of historic Reid House in Avonport
CBC
A recent court decision to fine a development company $86,000 for the destruction of Reid House points to the need for stronger laws to protect historically significant buildings, according to the president of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia.
Sandra Barss said the maximum fines under existing legislation are too low to deter developers from regarding them as a cost of doing business.
Reid House in Avonport, Kings County, N.S., dates back to the 1760s and was granted heritage status in 1993. Over the centuries, the farmhouse was also used as a tavern, stagecoach stop, courthouse, post office and polling station.
Bassam Nahas and his Halifax-based Nanco Developments each faced four charges under the Heritage Protection Act and the Special Places Protection Act.
The demolition took place between Dec. 2 and 10, 2020.
Prior to the guilty plea, the matter was scheduled for trial in 2024. It will not proceed.
Nanco Developments pleaded guilty to two charges related to the destruction of the historic home during an appearance at Windsor Provincial Court before Judge Angela Caseley on Oct. 30.
The plea followed an agreement between Crown prosecutors and the parties involved.
Charges against Nahas were dismissed.
The company was fined $57,500 for the first charge of altering in appearance or demolishing a heritage property under the Heritage Property Act and $28,750 on the second charge for excavating or altering a protected site under the Special Places Protection Act.
The maximum possible fines were for the first charge was $250,000 and $100,000 for the second.
"He was allowed to plead down to guilty on two charges under each of those acts and gets, as we called it, a financial slap on the wrist and and yet it's very clear that he was guilty on all counts, " Barss said.
"I struggle with this because to me the the Crown prosecutor did not press the matter, and certainly the court did not."
Barss said the time has come for legislation to be passed that includes a significant minimum fine that developers can't shrug off.