One of the boarded-up houses in P.A. that appears on a list of 13 that are not in compliance for safety and health reasons and have a deadline for compliance looming. There are another 68 properties with issue. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

eyesores

P.A.’s boarded-up houses: what’s the answer?

Jun 25, 2019 | 8:38 AM

Not for the first time, the mayor of Prince Albert is committing to deal with the ongoing problem of boarded-up, unlivable houses in the city and says council will ponder doubling property taxes on vacant homes as one potential remedy.

“We don’t want them, they’re eyesores, and as a city I’m serving everyone notice that we’re going to work hard to get them cleaned up,” he told paNOW. “Not only are they being broken into, they’re a risk,” he said, noting another such house caught fire this past weekend when kids got into it.

The mayor and city council has tried to get on top of the issue for many years and discussions at Monday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting were the latest in an attempt to come up with real solutions. That meeting heard details of the process and options that are available to the bylaw manager to try to enforce compliance by owners whenever a house has been boarded-up, generally for health and safety reasons. Those include a demand to remove all boarding, fix windows and doors and occupy the property; or assign someone to ensure the property is maintained; or get a permit for demolition. Failure to comply with these options is followed by prosecution.

However, Dionne suggested incentives or deterrents were needed because these properties were not being addressed by owners, some of whom he said were listed companies out of the city or local owners who had become stuck with an unlivable building they couldn’t afford to fix up.

“Some owners board them up with the idea of fixing them up when they are in a position to do so, but my problem is that time never comes along,” Dionne said, noting there are houses that have been boarded-up for years across the city. “We know [renovation] isn’t going to happen because it would cost more than the value of the house.”

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Tax increases and non-profit assistance

So, he said city council would consider an increase of property tax from the current $1,500 to a base tax of “perhaps $3,000 a year” for a vacant boarded up home as an incentive for owners to deal with them. He said another option would be to get non-profits involved.

“We’ll work with that non-profit community group to offer a tax receipt to the owner so they can purchase the property, demolish it and then put up a new home.”

Of the 13 properties listed by bylaw as facing non-compliance, three involve outstanding court action, one is with the bank, and the other nine have compliance deadlines coming up over the coming four months. There are another 68 properties that have issues.

Dionne said cities weren’t getting the help and extra powers they needed from the province and the matter would be discussed by the mayor’s caucus.

“Why do we give the owners extra months to sort things out when they and we know what’s wrong? We have one house in P.A. that’s been boarded up for seven years,” he said. “I’ve spoken to neighbours who’d rather have the city come and demolish the house and live next to a vacant lot. At least there’s no risk.”

The matter will come up for discussion at the next city council meeting in July.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow