Despite Sylvia Dolomont's eleventh-hour attempts to save her home, the CBRM's contractors waited until after dark on Wednesday to demolish it.
Earlier in the day, a Dolomont supporter indicated that the CBRM solicitor said the demolition wouldn't occur until Thursday...
If the plan was intended to trick the woman and her supporters, it worked. But is that the type of behavior we expect from our councillors, Mayor Clarke, and the CBRM executive team?
I'll be very pleased if we later find out that this demolition wasn't done by surprise, and the homeowner was told they were coming in the evening.
But why would they do a demolition after dark for any other purpose?
CBRM road crews don't even appear to work at night.
Demolishing the home after dark left supporters unprepared and unable to mount any further protest. And it's reasonable to believe that is precisely why it was done.
Many are quick to point out that the home has been in a bad state due to Dolomont's self-described hoarding behavior. And it's certainly reasonable that her neighbours would be upset with the conditions that resulted - and that the situation negatively impacted their neighbourhood.
However, the CBRM waited all these years to do the demolition and did so only after Dolomont and her supporters made extensive efforts to successfully empty the home of all of its contents.
When she failed to make the required progress, they granted extensions and let the home be. When the home was finally emptied, the construction crews showed up to flatten it. I consider that backward thinking at best.
By looking at the photos shared earlier today, the interior is as rough as you would expect. It's what you would see on any home improvement channel as the before pictures in foreclosed or abandoned homes acquired to then be renovated and flipped. However, there isn't any clear indication that there is any "structural damage" as has been repeatedly alleged by the CBRM when trying to justify the demolition order.
One Dolomount supporter posted today indicating that a third party inspector had visited the home and indicated that it did not have structural damage.
If citizens were expected to protest, then they should have been given that opportunity.
To wait until after dark to plow down a home owned by someone who may have a form of mental illness ("hoarding"), just doesn't seem like an appropriate action.
Did they have someone standing by to make sure that she was ok when confronted with the realization of the loss of her home?
In my opinion, this smacks of dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more
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