By Andrew de Souza

Board upholds Minto Apartments demolition order

Dec 2, 2010 | 5:30 PM

The long-debated demolition order on the controversial Minto Apartments has been upheld and its potential sale has been denied.

The City of Prince Albert’s Property Maintenance Appeal Board, denied a request from property owner, Larry Markwart, to extend the deadline for the building’s demolition order placed on the property back in 2004. At the same time, the board denied the possible sale of the property to the Full Gospel Outreach.

The board’s report on the decision noted that when the initial order was given, Markwart fully had the ability to sell the property or find a suitable building manager to run the property in a safe and beneficial way. The board said that he had failed to try hard enough.

“Little real effort was made by the owner or his agent to find a buyer or be creative in the effort to sell the property,” the decision read.

“Given the lack of effort exhibited by Mr. Markwart in his attempt to find a building manager or a potential buyer for the property, and giving his willingness to allow the matter to lie dormant before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeals, this board is unwilling to allow further extension of time with respect to this matter,” said the report.

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It added, since the demolition order was upheld, any arguments for the sale of the building could be disregarded.

The decision means the demolition order is effective immediately, however Markwart is entitled appeal the decision within 30 days.

The initial demolition order was given in 2004, after a series of nuisance complaints were received by the city’s bylaw enforcement.

Markwart appealed the decision, and a drawn out back-and-forth between the city, Markwart and higher courts took place over several years.

The city gave an extended deadline of Dec. 2008, and the courts gave a further extension of Jan. 2009.
Markwart meanwhile attempted to twice sue the city for unfair treatment. He was unsuccessful both times.

Markwart also appealed the Jan. 2009 deadline and because the case was in the courts, the property maintenance appeal board suspended the demolition order.

Most recently, Markwart withdrew the appeal, which allowed the maintenance board to render its decision.

Markwart was not available for comment.

adesouza@panow.com