Part 18 published on 01/05/07
Owners ordered to remove satellite dishes
The Court of Appeal upheld the lower Court’s Order requiring the owners to remove their satellite dishes. The satellite dishes in question contravened the declaration, by-laws and rules of the condominium corporation.
The condominium corporation had passed a rule referring to the permitted common television cable system (involving one dish on each block of units). The Court noted that the rule was aimed at preserving a uniform appearance and quality in the condominium complex, which the Court said was “a general purpose that appears to comply with Section 58 of the Condominium Act”. The owners had asserted that their particular satellite dishes were hidden from onlookers and accordingly had no impact upon the appearance of the community. They accordingly argued that the application of the rule in their case would not meet the permitted purposes for rules, under Section 58 of the Condominium Act, 1998. The Court rejected this argument, because the owners had not adduced sufficient evidence to support the argument.
[Editorial Comment: Since the satellite dishes in question were not part of a common television cable system, they clearly contravened the Declaration. So, it seems to me that the Court did not really need to be concerned at all about the validity of the Rule.]