Beaconsfield resident Francine Palumbo just about hit the roof when she found out the cover to her backyard pool would have to be taken down.
The six-foot-high telescopic shell is a new product on the Quebec market, and it doesn't come cheap. Palumbo paid $25,000 for the makeshift roof on the pool, used as a way to extend the pool season, as well as limit maintenance and heating costs.
While the structures have been available in Europe for 15 years, they are new to the province, and Dorval-based Polyprotec has the rights to distribute the product throughout Quebec and Ontario
Aside from saving on costs, Palumbo said she likes the security the shell offers. As the caregiver of four people with physical handicaps, she considered the shell a good way to prevent accidents.
"Once it's locked, it can't be opened," she explained. "If my tenants are outside and I have to go in for two minutes, I don't have to worry."
The City of Beaconsfield, however, determined in October 2008 that the hard-top shell is considered a permanent structure, and could not stay up in her suburban backyard. It falls into the same category as driveway carports, which are not permitted in Beaconsfield.
After refusing to take down the structure, Palumbo was issued a $144 fine on June 2 for non-compliance, which she intends to fight at City Hall.
Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti said the city is just following its bylaws, and that Palumbo and the contractor didn't act in good faith.
"The contractor wanted to sell his first one in Quebec. He knew he needed a permit, he knew it wasn't permitted, but he built it anyway--and she built it anyway," said Benedetti.
