Vacant private lots vexing issue for City

The presence of the lots in neighbourhoods across Prince Albert have a chill effect on surrounding residents – fearful of the impact on their property values – and they can pose a safety risk because of the properties’ lack of maintenance.

The empty lots can become an eyesore for neighbours, who then complain to the City, Dionne said. People also dump garbage on the empty lots, and kids “congregate” in them and hangout at night, he added.

In an effort to push the private lot owners to sell or develop the properties, the City decided to give them a nudge financially.

Dionne said a couple of years ago the City changed the tax formula. “So we increased the taxes quite a bit on empty lots,” he said.

The taxes jumped almost sevenfold for some, as described by the mayor. The previous tax rates, he said, weren’t a burden.

And that increase appeared to spark some action from the property owners. Dionne said some of the lots were given away or sold. Redeveloping the infill lots has its advantages – the lots already have water and sewer connections.

He said a couple of the lot owners have asked him if they can turn the lots over to the City. The mayor declined the properties and suggested they give it to Habitat for Humanity or to an affordable housing developer.

Dionne said the owners are then able to get a tax receipt for that donation.

“There’s all kinds of ways,” he said. “But we have to deal with them because they’ve been vacant for too long, and then come summer, we have an issue with weeds.”

To deal with the safety issue, the City is looking to change its bylaws to force the property owners to fence the land off.

Dionne is also considering tax incentives to encourage property owners to build on the lots, such as one year tax-free.

But the City is only able to go so far in its efforts. Enter the province.

The City is looking to the provincial government to amend the Cities Act to give municipalities more freedom with notices to force property owners to develop the lots or to tax them as if there were a house on the lot.

He referred back to the tax jump that brought vacant lot taxes to about $700, and said if the City could raise property taxes on those vacant lots to $1,500 to $2,000, he said the lots may all be sold off.

It’s not just residential infill lots that are an issue in Prince Albert; empty commercial lots – in particular, former gas stations, which are now largely abandoned, are as well.

That became a topic of discussion at this month’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) meeting after Coun. Martin Ring raised the issue.

In a telephone conversation, Ring said he’s noticed a few properties in the city that have been largely abandoned.

He said the landowners “pulled up roots,” but continue to pay taxes on the land, but at a lower level because they don’t have a business operating there. Ring said there are environmental and cleanup related to some of these properties.

“It’s prime pieces of real estate in some of the commercial areas that are basically, right now, they’re abandoned.”

Ring said these are areas the City would like to have cleaned up, since they are active pieces of land that the City should be able to use in its commercial inventory. But the fuel companies have to take responsibility for the cleanup, he said.

He said the provincial government, in particular, the ministry of environment is looking into remedies for this.

-With files from Chelsea Laskowski

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames

by Thia James

Vacant private lots vexing issue for City

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