Yukon city suing its own Mayor

Talar Stockton,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The City of Dawson is suing its own mayor, Bill Kendrick.

The lawsuit was filed with the Yukon supreme court on Oct. 9. The claim shared with the News asks the court for an interlocutory and permanent injunction forcing Kendrick to immediately remove the encroachments from city-owned property. The claim said Kendrick is unlawfully using city lands, and that he unlawfully replaced his septic tank located on city land, without approval from the city or Yukon Health in 2021.

In 2009, Kendrick bought the property in question in Dawson City’s North End. It consists of a two-storey house with a porch and a workshop in the yard. There is also the septic tank, which is located completely on a public, but unused, road right-of-way. The porch also encroaches onto the roadway, and the house and the workshop encroach onto Lots 4 and 5, respectively.

The city claims Kendrick knew about the encroachments before he even bought the property.

The claim said the property’s previous owner was in negotiations with the city to remove the encroachments, and Kendrick knew about these negotiations.

In 2010, Kendrick apparently committed to resolving the encroachments in the “near future,” according to the claim.

According to a letter he sent to city council on April 30, he received development permits in 2010 and 2011 to fix the house’s “floating” corner — which doesn’t sit on the ground.

“At the time of receiving the Development Permits, no conditions or “subject to setbacks” language was written on any of the permits,” Kendrick wrote. He said the city lost his land file in 2011. David Henderson, Dawson City’s current chief administrative officer (CAO), told the News there is no record of any files being lost.

Kendrick requested the purchase of lots 3, 4 and 5 in 2011, according to the city’s presentation to council on Nov. 15, 2021. This request, per the presentation, was denied by council.

The claim said the purchase was denied due to city policy to not sell any unserviceable lots in the Historic Management Area.

According to the statement of claim, between 2012 and 2014 the city entered into negotiations with Kendrick to resolve the encroachments. These negotiations included the offer to set up a License of Occupation (LOO). In 2014, Kendrick “engaged in conversations with the CAO regarding a License of Occupation for the land in question,” which wasn’t approved, according to the Nov. 15, 2021 report.

The Nov. 15, 2021 report said Kendrick again requested to purchase some parts of four city-owned lots in 2018. Again, council denied Kendrick’s request. The statement of claim said the rejection was due to city planning happening in the North End.

During the caretaker period leading up to 2021 municipal elections, Kendrick told the News he found a large hole next to his home: the septic tank had collapsed. The city report said Kendrick then applied for a permit from Yukon Environmental Health Services (YEHS) to replace the tank.

According to the city, they were contacted by YEHS seeking confirmation that Kendrick owned that land where the septic tank was. The city consulted a 2019 land survey and determined the tank was on road right-of-way.

The city’s land titles office also found there was “no active road title in Government addition” on this land, meaning as of 2021, the city didn’t technically own that land, either. However, the land office was said to be “working on that issue” in a report presented to council on Nov. 15, 2021. All road right-of-ways in the Historic Townsite should be titled to City of Dawson, according to the report.

Henderson told the News the Yukon government transferred ownership of the roadway to Dawson City in 1995. He said the city has jurisdiction and authority over the roadway.

When the road was determined to not belong to Kendrick, he requested a License of Occupation to “legitimize the location of his septic tank, as well as obtain YEHS approval to replace it,” per the Nov. 15, 2021 report.

According to the April 16, 2024 report, city administration confirmed with YEHS the permit depended on Kendrick entering the LOO with the city. On the permit, dated Sept. 29, 2021, the YEHS officer wrote “pending approval from City of Dawson.”

At a council meeting on Nov. 24, 2021, Dawson’s city council directed staff to draw up a LOO with the condition it would expire after a year, and the site would be remediated by Kendrick.

The city planning and development manager shared the wording of this resolution with Kendrick that month, according to the April 16, 2024 report.

Kendrick alleged he didn’t know about the conditions of the LOO, because he was only told the LOO would be one year by the CAO.

“Well, I assumed it’d be renewable,” Kendrick said of the LOO.

He said the wording was vague, and the CAO mentioned research determining the feasibility of bringing water and sewage connection to the neighbourhood was planned.

Kendrick said to the News he installed the tank right before freeze-up, fearing his home would be uninhabitable until next summer. Kendrick said he expected the new council would understand the situation.

The city presentation said the installation happened in November or December of 2021 — without Kendrick getting approval from YEHS, which they argue was conditional on him signing the LOO, which wasn’t presented to him until February 2022.

According to the city, the next eight months consisted of “repeated attempts to secure a signed copy of the LOO from Mr. Kendrick.” They say Kendrick indicated intentions to sign, but did not do so and instead raised questions about the terms of the agreement.

Kendrick said in September 2022, he sent an email to the CAO and manager, citing issues with the lack of paths towards buying the property the encroachments are on, and the lack of language around the septic tank being six feet from his house. He said he has not received a response to that email.

By November 2022, both the CAO and planning manager had left their positions with the City of Dawson. A new CAO and planning manager were brought on in February and March 2023, and the planning manager was replaced again in June 2023. The new CAO and planning manager were tasked with following up on the LOO.

Over the course of 2023, the new CAO discussed the issue multiple times with Kendrick, who said he had additional information relevant to the issue, according to the April 16, 2024 report.

That report said in February 2024, the CAO sent a letter to Kendrick demanding he sign the LOOs (at this point, updated to 2024) for the porch and the septic tank by March 31, 2024.

In March 2024, Kendrick appeared as a delegate to city council on the issue.

“Instead of doing a proper investigation of the situation or meeting with me to find out any pertinent background information, City Council has decided to only take me to task,” reads Kendrick’s delegation speech.

He also brought resolutions passed from the previous council regarding development in the North End, and an 2009 letter from the then-community development officer stating the property — then under the name of Peter Maxwell — “complies with the applicable development and zoning restrictions for the City of Dawson.”

The April 16, 2024 report by the city said the information does “not materially change the fact that a septic tank was installed on municipal property without municipal or Yukon Environmental approval.”

On April 30, 2024, Kendrick sent a letter to the council, calling the LOO “unreasonable,” suggesting a five-year LOO instead. He said he had been singled out, and other property owners who had encroachments into the same road right-of-way got the road closed near their properties. Henderson said he’s not sure what Kendrick is referring to.

“We’re not familiar with any recent roadway closures,” Henderson said.

There was the option for the deadline for Kendrick to sign on to be extended to May 31, but the process was delayed when Kendrick chose to appear as a delegate on the issue, Henderson said. Council then asked staff to develop a public response at a following meeting.

“By that time or shortly thereafter the anticipated deadline was moot as it had already passed,” Henderson said in an email.

In the statement of claim, the city said it sent a letter to Kendrick on Aug. 21 with a final offer to sign the LOO. If he didn’t, they would proceed with legal action.

Kendrick said he got the email on Aug. 21, and received it by post on Aug. 28. Aug. 28 was the final deadline for Kendrick to sign the LOO.

Now, as the case has been filed with the Yukon courts, Kendrick, and two incumbent councillors, Patrik Pikálek and Alex Somerville, are running for re-election.

The claims made by Dawson have not been heard in court yet and Kendrick has not filed a formal response with the courts yet.

Talar Stockton,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Yukon News