Frustration with city rules

I live in a small condo building on the corner of Bertram Street and Doyle Avenue (in Kelowna).

Needless to say, the residents of this complex are feeling under siege. We have been experiencing break-ins, destruction of our building and a lack of police concern.

A few years ago, I welded two doors shut to stop criminals from gaining access to our parking garage and bike storage. We did get approval from the fire department because the garage still had two exits .

The stairwells that remained turned into havens for drug use, litter, defecation and sexual encounters . We, as a council, decided to fill the stairwells in. We applied for a building permit. The city informed us we would need approval from an architect.

We could not afford that, so we decided to just cover the opening with some plywood and a small amount of rocks to make it appear as to be filled .

The city contacted us about the building permit request as it coming up for renewal. We cancelled the application. The city sent an inspector who saw the work that was done and dispatched a fire marshal and a bylaw officer. They have told us to turn everything back to the way it was four years ago because now it is unsafe.

So now we have to open these doors making our building more vulnerable.

Why after several fire inspections over the years are we now living in an unsafe building? We are at a loss.

Cliff Paice