CLARENVILLE, NL— The owners of Dunrovin Cabins near Lethbridge were fined $1,000 for noncompliance in relation to installation of a handicap-accessible shower stall.
The $1,000 fine is the minimum fine allotted in Section 33 of the Building Accessibility Act, which deals with offenses and penalties for noncompliance issues.
In addition to the $1,000-fine, the owners have been ordered a mandatory compliance order and a provincial victim fine surfeit charge of $300.
The fines and order must be fulfilled by May to mark the opening of the tourist season.
Owners Rod and Gerri Penney, who did not appear in Clarenville provincial court this morning as the case was settled, had pled guilty to the charge.
Their lawyer, Tom Williams, argued that though there was a breach of standard, the context of the situation ought to be considered as well.
"They [the owners] have had a number of issues with Service NL over the last two years that they have ben going back and forth on, to a very, very extreme level of frustration. They have been trying to comply with every issue that has come up," Williams said via a telephone conference call Thursday morning.
"While we acknowledge that it is a literal breach of a very fine, particular aspect of the code, to have to do a new renovation on that unit, the whole shower stall has to come out, and because of the construction of the unit, they're going to be in excess of $10,000 to address this issue."
"I just want the court to know that my clients have done everything, and have been through the wringer with ServiceNL with this project as a whole over the last three years."
Related story: Dunrovin Cabins owners frustrated with ServiceNL
