TransLink has been ordered by the BC Supreme Court to pay compensation to local merchants over a construction class-action lawsuit.
The transportation agency was sued by three BC merchants – Leonard Schein, owner of the Park Theatre; Dale Dubberley, operating the Thai Away Home restaurant; and Gary Gautam, owner of the Cambie General Store – over its construction of the SkyTrain Canada Line from 2005 to 2009.
The merchants initially claimed that the project – which involved digging a large trench instead of boring a tunnel in a technique known as “cut and cover” – drove away their customers and cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profits.
But the BC Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that members of the class action could not sue for lost revenues, but could sue for compensation over the effect on the rental value of the property they owned or occupied.
Globalnews.ca reported that since the last ruling, the court has issued new rulings regarding the compensation.
“What the cut and cover method of construction caused, of course, was the digging up of Cambie Street in a manner that greatly restricted access to the plaintiffs’ businesses over a lengthy period of time,” the ruling stated.
“It was not, however, the degree of interference at any given moment that was intolerable; rather, I find, it was the length of time over which access was restricted that made the interference intolerable to the businesses in question.”
The court awarded Schein $128,000, Dubberly $44,560 and Gautam $7,600 after reviewing their net income and gross revenue prior to the construction project.
In its judgment, the court added that the merchant’s complaint will serve as a test case for succeeding lawsuits against TransLink.
“It is contemplated that the claims of the remaining plaintiffs will be resolved in accordance with the parameters I set in this case,” the judgment read.
