Ensign taking some heat

A development company owned by Westside mayoralty candidate Rusty Ensign has run afoul of bylaws in the community he hopes to lead.

On October 11, the Regional District issued a Stop Work Order to Hihannah Land and Cattle Co. Ltd because of unauthorized work done on Shannon Heights Developments.

"Under the Regional District bylaws, developers are required to obtain any necessary Development Permits before any site disturbance takes place" says Regional District Communications Coordinator, Bruce Smith.

"We discovered significant work on the site such as grading and road construction and issued the order."

Ensign, who runs the company along with his two brothers and sister, says he doesn't approve of the work that went on.

"I have three partners in the company and I got out-voted three to one," says Ensign. "Actually, they did it without calling a meeting. It's my brother Chris that went ahead without consent."

Ensign says he has known since July that the work would be done without a permit but indicated he was powerless to do anything about it.

When asked why he didn't go to the authorities, Ensign said, "Tough thing to do with your family."

He says the incident won't be helpful as he kicks off his campaign for mayor.

"On the surface it won't help, but I'm disclosing that I didn't want it to happen and was powerless to do anything -- hopefully the message will get out."

Meantime, Smith says the developer must obtain the necessary approvals before any further work can be done.

"As long as the Stop Work Order is in place, any continued work on the site could result in a daily fine of $150 for the developer and any workers on site."