In general, this is a story about bullying and a government department that makes arbitrary decisions bordering on abuse of authority. It's a fight, so to speak, for the little guy. If you want to prevent this from happening to you or others, read on.

In summary, the PEI provincial planning department denied my sister’s shed permit applications for reasons that are not found in the law or Regulations; reasons such as ‘usually only allowed one shed,’ ‘usually sheds should be placed in these certain spots,’ etc. “Usually” is not found in the Regulations... My sister appealed the denial decisions and it will be going to IRAC for a hearing soon. If the province wins, then it will open the door for them to use these ungrounded, arbitrary reasons for denial for every islander filing a permit. Plus, it will give more strength to bully neighbours (how this all started).

My sisters and I are born and raised islanders. Most of our family is still in PEI. Years ago, my sister purchased a low-cost piece of land so that she, her husband and dog could stay longer to visit our parents. They were the first to buy in the area and there were no convenants. To keep costs manageable, they put a small cottage with the dream of maybe later building something bigger.

A few years later, a couple from Nova Scotia bought the existing cottage beside them, and as time continued, Betty Ann’s husband’s health deteriorated drastically, to the point he required a heart transplant. So their dream of retiring to PEI in a bigger cottage changed.

They continue in their small cottage, enjoying that it forces them outdoors to enjoy the beauty of PEI. But, as they spend more years there, they’ve accumulated more and needed extra storage. When Betty Ann put a small 8x12 shed in the lower part of their property, the Nova Scotia neighbours freaked out, saying it was blocking their view. This is when Betty Ann’s sanctuary turned, instead, into a personal and legal nightmare.

Him, being a lawyer, knew they were not legally entitled to the view. But it went to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) anyways. Betty Ann, feeling inadequacy and fear going up against a lawyer, hired her own lawyer to help her respond to this appeal. The neighbour, having expertise as a lawyer and being personally motivated, won that appeal on technicalities. The outcome was precedent-setting, providing benefit to many appeal cases since then. However, the cost to Betty Ann, for that loss, was around $15,000.

Since then, the neighbours have appealed almost every one of Betty Ann’s permits. Instead of the province standing up for their approvals and agreements, particularly when nothing on her property is against Regulations, they allow this to continue and even are supporting the complaining neighbour with this round of denials. This has now been going on 9 years.

Meanwhile, Betty Ann worked in good faith with the Planning Department and Ministry to resolve any issues. The province gave Betty Ann many approved permits and also provided many approval decisions, as well as advice. But, presumably, with the persistence of the neighbours, the province continually has backtracked on their agreements and approvals, at the expense of my sister (time, effort, cost, loss of enjoyment, health).

The latest is that the province asked Betty Ann to re-apply for all permits, ‘to have a clean slate.’ Then, surprisingly, three permits for sheds that have existed already for 7-9 years were denied — interestingly, the same sheds that were subject to earlier complaints by the neighbour.

The denial reasons are unfounded, completely arbitrary, biased (from the neighbour complaints), and not supported by the law or the Regulations; reasons such as “a property usually only has one shed”, “the placement of the sheds are unorderly”, and "the sheds have a detrimental impact on public health and safety.” Interestingly, these denial reasons are a rewording of the same arguments made by the neighbours when they appealed Betty Ann’s permits years ago — not founded on law or Regulations, just a difference in aesthetics and ‘don’t likes.’

You may not have chosen to setup your property or vacation this way. But my sister’s property and buildings are well-maintained and not breaking any laws or Regulations. Why should she be bullied from the property that they love, have maintained and cared for? Betty Ann was there first; she is an islander (too much of PEI is being bought up by non-islanders); there are no covenants; and they love their property with their planted trees that are now mature.

So we are fighting for her rights and the rights of all of us: to own something; to take care of it as you wish (but according to law, of course); and to not be bullied.

If you don’t like the idea of a province making decisions that go beyond their mandate and rules, or don’t like the idea of a provincial department giving in to a complaining neighbour, or don’t like that a neighbour is allowed to continually complain and get away with it, to the point of the province giving in to them instead of standing up to them, then consider helping this cause. Preparing for an IRAC hearing and getting experts to defend oneself, etc is very expensive, and even if Betty Ann wins the appeal, IRAC doesn’t award costs. So, any amount would be appreciated.

Please also consider sharing. Islanders need to know the shenanigans and the bullying that have been allowed to go on for so long. Besides, if the province wins the appeal, it could impact permits for any islander going forward.

Thank you for your support!