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October 25, 2023 - 12:59 PM
A Salmon Arm man is heading to court after he was slapped with 163 bylaw tickets for the same offence.
Jim Weed wouldn't say what he plans to do or whether he'll defend himself, but he's expected to appear in court again next month.
The City of Salmon Arm gave him one ticket for every tree he had felled on his nearly half-acre property, accounting for each of the 163 trees.
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Both Weed and Salmon Arm's chief administrative officer Erin Jackson refused to comment when reached by iNFOnews.ca.
The city's tree removal bylaw says each ticket can reach up to $2,000. While it's not clear how large his fine is, Weed could be facing a maximum of $326,000 in municipal fines.
His refusal to pay has landed him in provincial court.
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It's also not clear why he had the trees felled, but he had plans to build a seven-metre retaining wall on the property at 2794 25 Street Northeast, according to city documents. Salmon Arm's planning department saw no issue with the wall, which was triple the permitted height, because the property was so heavily treed it would hardly be visible.
Council approved the retaining wall in October 2022.
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