A Deep Cove property owner is suing the District of North Vancouver alleging years of negligence by the municipality led to flooding damages at his Panorama Drive home.
Gary Wilson, 71, purchased the Panorama Drive property, which has Panorama Creek running through it, in 2002. A previous owner built the home to physically straddle the creek along with a set of grouted rock walls along the creek’s banks.
Since the purchase there have been significant floods in 2005, 2009, 2014, multiple events in 2018, and, most recently, the October 2024 atmospheric river, the notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court states.
Wilson and the district have been in a long-running dispute over who should be responsible for mitigating the risk of flooding on the property.
The district channels stormwater into the creek, thereby altering its natural flow and character, the claims states.
Wilson’s lawsuit cites at least eight engineering reports between 1999 and 2019 that identified the risk the creek poses for debris flows and floods. Some of those reports specifically recommended ways for the district to mitigate that risk by building infrastructure above Wilson’s property that would catch debris before it enters and clogs the channel.
Other properties identified as being at high risk did get those efforts, the claim notes.
“Between around 2017 and around 2019, the DNV implemented mitigation projects for several other creeks to reduce their risk and vulnerability to natural hazards. Despite Panorama Creek also being similarly at risk as those creeks, the DNV has failed to implement any mitigation measures for Panorama Creek to this day,” the suit states.
Instead, the district sought a court order in 2018 requiring Wilson to repair the collapsing retaining wall on Panorama Creek.
Wilson challenged the order in court, arguing the district’s demanded remediation work would not actually make the creek safer “because an engineering solution within the property alone could not address the unsafe condition of Panorama Creek without the DNV also implementing mitigation measures upstream of the property such as the construction of a debris basin,” the claim states.
In 2018, Wilson won, with the judge in the case noting that the district ignored its own policy of assisting homeowners at risk from drainage issues through no fault of their own, adding that the district’s position was “fatally flawed and clearly unreasonable.”
On Oct. 19 and 20, 2024, floodwaters from the atmospheric river carried rocks and woody debris into the channel again, leaving more damage to the property, according to the suit. Less than two months later, Wilson delivered notice to the district that he would be filing a claim for the damages.
In the claim, Wilson is asking the courts for an order compelling the district to purchase his property “at the fair market value that the property would have had but for the DNV’s impugned conduct.”
Failing that, Wilson is seeking orders requiring the district to complete mitigation work both on his own property and the district’s above it.
Beyond that, Wilson is asking the court to award stiffer financial penalties.
“The harm suffered by the plaintiff on October 19 and 20, 2024 was a result of the DNV’s high-handed and arrogant behaviour displaying a reckless disregard for the plaintiff’s rights, and the DNV’s conduct merits censure by this court through an award of punitive damages,” it states.
The district has not yet filed a response to the petition and none of the claims have been tested in court.
In a statement, district staff said they could not comment on the matter.
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