It was a labour of love when John Konstantinidis built a large “pirate ship” in his backyard to bring his kids joy in the middle of the pandemic. Now, after a visit from Toronto bylaw officers, he has to dismantle the structure, move it, and reassemble it.
It was a labour of love when John Konstantinidis built a large “pirate ship” in his backyard to bring his kids joy in the middle of a pandemic.
But the Toronto family says in the past couple of weeks a complaint from a neighbour led to city officials knocking on their door. Now, Konstantinidis has to dismantle the structure — which is actually part swimming pool and part deck — move it, and reassemble it.
“The kids went crazy. I mean, bawling … They were very sad about it,” he said.
“Kids always tend to be victims in such situations.”
Konstantinidis says he doesn’t have any documentation from the city explaining the violation.
CBC News asked the City of Toronto to explain which bylaw the pirate ship violates and how, but officials weren’t able to provide a statement before publishing time. And his next door neighbours told CBC Toronto they weren’t the ones who lodged the complaint.
But, as Konstantinidis understands it, the structure needs to be moved because, since it’s partly a swimming pool, it needs to be a certain distance away from the gate to his backyard, and right now, it’s too close. He’s got to move it back at least a metre away from the fence.
