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“We have been kept up all night from the noise above…. I am being denied the peace and quiet I am entitled to under the bylaws, suffering fatique [sic] and stress and possibly suffering financially with the impact this situation has on my resale value,” wrote Mr. Beilhartz in a court submission. He also complained of Mr. Newell’s party guests pelting his balcony with beer bottles.

The accusation differs sharply from that of another neighbour, J. B. Sugar, who recently moved into a neighbouring penthouse after buying it from Mr. Newell.

While other neighbours complained of rumbling walls and pounding 4 a.m. footsteps — prompting the building concierge to repeateadly call the police — Mr. Sugar told the court that he never heard ambient sounds from the penthouse, save for one instance in which he heard music drifting through an open window and asked Mr. Newell if he “would mind” turning it down. “Mr. Newell did promptly, and apologized to Mr. Sugar,” according to court documents.

Mr. Sugar’s account is “lacking in details and [is] conclusory rather than factual,” wrote B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair.

Mr. Newell’s attitude seems to be that his closest neighbours … are killjoys and do not belong in Yaletown

Attempts by the strata council to deter Mr. Newell with $200 noise violation fines were unsuccessful, as he simply paid them in full. The fines “created no hardship at all for him,” wrote Justice Adair.

In court, Mr. Newell dismissed the many noise complaints against him by claiming that noise is par for the course in Yaletown, one of Vancouver’s trendiest neighbourhoods.

“He says that, from his penthouse, he can hear screaming from games at B.C. Place Stadium, bongo drums during the jazz festival, music and voices of parties on cruises, diners arriving and leaving restaurants, and the like,” read court documents.

“Mr. Newell’s attitude seems to be that his closest neighbours … are killjoys and do not belong in Yaletown,” wrote Justice Adair. “But Yaletown living does not give Mr. Newell an excuse for ignoring the bylaws of his strata corporation.”

National Post

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