Iqaluit homeowners suffer from exhaust stench, noise from restaurant

The exhaust fan from a new restaurant at house 810 blows greasy cooking exhaust directly at the home next door, house 808, and produces noise for 12 to 14 hours a day. (PHOTO COURTESY OF MOONIE AND SHEILA KOLOLA)

We are homeowners, Moonie and Sheila Kolola, in downtown Iqaluit, Lot 89, House 808. We have lived in this house for 20 years.

We have worked hard for many years to give our family a stable home and have had opportunities to move to newer houses. We have, however, opted to stay in our home, as it is conveniently located in the core area and gives us easier access to the sea ice and water.

This makes it easier to get out on the land to spend time hunting, fishing and spending time at our cabin. The land also gives us more room to store hunting equipment, something that is lacking in today’s new houses.

About three months ago we found out that a new restaurant was being built right next door (House 810) within 23 feet of our home. Once we found out we started becoming concerned about the potential negative impacts the development may bring to our property, so we started inquiring with the city to see what processes they had followed.

The city explained that there was a variance to turn the residential house to a restaurant and that they followed the proper processes. One of the processes that we argue that never happened is the delivery of notices to leaseholders within 30 metres of the subject restaurant.

The city contends they left the notice on our doorknob, but we have never received that notice. There are total five leaseholders (including our household) within 30 metres from the subject property that claim to have never received the notices.

They, like ourselves, found out about the restaurant after the construction started.

We tried to initially work with the city, however it was apparent they were pretending nothing was wrong and had no concerns for our well-being, so we had no choice but to hire a lawyer.

Three months later we have made no progress. The city administrators said they forwarded our appeal to the appeal board however it appears to just be an attempt to delay us so we will forget this ever happened and move on.

We will not just accept this very negative situation. The city has turned our house upside down and they must answer to their negligence.

There are many negative impacts such as traffic and noise related to ravens and dogs, but the biggest issue we have currently is related to the exhaust fan.

It is installed in such a way that it will have the most negative impact on our home It is installed off the side of the back wall and pointed directly at the back of our home right into our master bedroom window.

Over time this will cause grease buildup on the siding and roof and the restaurant odors are now entering our home through bedroom windows and any leaks through the wall system.

We are concerned about our long-term health, as it has been documented that restaurant exhaust can build up inside homes and be detrimental to health. It has been documented to be equivalent to second hand cigarette smoke.

It is concerning when one’s eyes are irritated from the odor and the smoke. We have also lost the tranquility in our bedroom as the oversized fan is so loud and turned on 12 to 14 hours a day. We have had to call dispatch on several occasions to complain under the noise bylaw when the fan has been on late at night.

We have lost our right as homeowners to enjoy the comfort of our home. If we open our windows our home would be overwhelmed with the restaurant exhaust.

We have lost our right to hang out outside our home, as the grease-laden cooking odors are negatively impacting our well-being. We are now coming to terms with the fact that we are getting forced out of our home.

We are in this very negative situation because the city has failed to follow its own zoning bylaws. Bylaws have been put in place for public safety so community members and neighbors can live in peace and harmony.

The city’s failure to follow their own zoning bylaws has put us in a very difficult situation. We are now fighting for our rights to access to clean air in our own home, lost access to clean air outside our home, this is a prime example why the By-laws are in place.

Below are some examples of city’s failure to follow the zoning bylaws.

• Failure to take into consideration the impact the restaurant would have upon neighboring land, (this is can be an impact study or report on how the neighborhood will be affected) a requirement before approving a “conditional use” development.

• The city did not consider if the development would meet the “S Zone” provisions, a requirement before approving a conditional use development. It is apparent that too many conditions would not meet the zone provisions and some non-conforming conditions were addressed through a variance. However, there are others still not conforming.

• Failure to give proper notification to all lease holders within a 30-metre radius.

• Did not ensure developer had adequate design to minimize negative impacts on our home and neighboring homes.

• The city waived the National Building Code requirement for barrier free access that would include barrier free access to washrooms.

This may not be legislated in Nunavut, but this is a practice implemented by responsible developers and municipal and territorial governments for these types of occupancies.

It is based on inclusivity to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities.

We have sincerely tried to work with Iqaluit City Council and administrators. We have tried to use the appeal process to voice our concerns, to no avail.

The mayor has ignored us to this day and the city will only work with us through a lawyer. We have tried to work with them for the last three months and are tired of waiting.

By continuing to ignore us and not making any effort to work with us is both mentally and financially draining as we’ve had to obtain our own lawyer and have to look at investing in home improvements worth thousands of dollars to try to at least make our home safely habitable.

The City’s “Core Area and Capital District Redevelopment Plan” on their website states that the plan “must be embraced and implemented in keeping with two central values: sustainable development and respect for Inuit culture. (The Plan) seeks to enact the General Plan through the provision of a second level of analysis and detail designed to facilitate implementation of redevelopment in the Core.”

In our case there was not even a first level of proper analysis done, never mind the second.

We feel violated, betrayed, disrespected and face a lot of uncertainty. This very unnecessary, stressful situation we find ourselves in is taking its toll so we feel we have no choice but to take this final step before proceeding to a lawsuit.

We have concerns that the well-being and public safety of community members can be in jeopardy if this negligent planning is to continue on this path. We are hoping no other family will go through the same stressful situation we find ourselves in.

We are not against development. Development can be good for the community, it can mean new services and more choices, more competition can result in better prices and improved services.

But development should be done in a controlled and properly planned manner, with proper consideration of community members well being, showing respect for community and individual rights.

The situation we are in is because the city failed to do their due diligence. They failed to undertake one of the most important tasks when starting a project, the need to identify all the stakeholders and engage the stakeholders and get their buy-in.

We have heard that the restaurant now wants to be open 24 hours a day — 24 hours of exhaust fumes and fan noise entering our home.

We raised our concerns about this to the mayor and still, she does not respond.

Is this the trend to expect for the redevelopment of the downtown core? That redevelopment will be at the cost of long time homeowners and not at the cost of the developer?

We are real people not just a house number on a city map.

Moonie and Sheila Kolola
Iqaluit

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