Mayor Scott Gillingham is seeking ways to speed up the process to seize vacant and derelict homes, as residents demand action over a string of properties set ablaze on Powers Street.
Gillingham told reporters he wants to make it quicker and easier for the city to take the title of “problem properties” that plague some neighbourhoods.
“I recognize that’s a very serious statement to make, but enough is enough. The people of these communities shouldn’t have to continue to put up with property owners who are delinquent and are just not caring for their properties,” he said.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Four burned houses in the William Whyte community sit in a row, vacant, along Powers Ave Friday.
The comments followed a public plea for help from residents in the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association, who recently counted at least 42 burned buildings in their area, including one home on Powers Street that went up in flames twice over five days earlier this year. The residents note all four houses on the block of Powers between Aberdeen and Redwood have been badly damaged by fire within the past two years and have yet to be cleaned up.
The mayor noted provincial legislation already allows the city to seize homes for reasons that include long-delinquent tax bills, but said the “long, drawn out” process takes years to complete.
He has asked the city’s legal services department to determine if there are ways to speed it up.
Gillingham stopped short of committing city money to clean up the sites. That option was previously rejected over concerns it could cost more to clean up a seized property than it could earn by selling it.
“If the city takes title of the property, then it would be the city’s to own and remediate and… clean up. That’s all part of the discussion that we need to have,” he said.
The mayor noted council introduced a long list of new incentives and penalties last year, which aimed to reduce the number of lots with derelict structures or rubble. Those steps included ramping up security standards for buildings repeatedly set on fire, adding more bylaw enforcement officers and creating new inspection fees.
“We have tried a series of initiatives, (with) some incentives and then some stiffer penalties and, in some cases, it’s just not working. So, it’s time to look at taking title of some of these properties that are the most problematic,” he said.
Darrell Warren, president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association, said he hears from worried residents on a weekly basis who are afraid the vacant property close to their home will go up in flames.
“A lot of people are having a lot of sleepless nights,” Warren said.
The rubble left behind is costly to clean up — anywhere between $30,000 and $50,000, he said.
“That’s why we’re calling on three levels of government to do it, because we know the city is money-strapped,” he said. “Maybe with the help of the province and the feds, maybe we can come up with some sort of fund… and get them cleaned up faster.”
As a result of the high cost of cleanup, the burned-out remains of vacant properties tend to become “dumping grounds” for other people’s unwanted mattresses, couches and discarded items, making the trash pile even bigger.
“There’s a big problem with mice and rats now, because of this,” Warren said.
“Unfortunately, if you live next door to one of these properties, it becomes your problem,” he added.
Warren said he wants to see the city expedite its process to take control of vacant properties, describing the current process as a drawn-out legal rigamarole that can take five or six years.
“And that’s not working. There’s too many properties sitting for long periods of time. We need to come up with a solution that will go ahead and get these properties turned over to the city faster.”
He is also calling for the return of the city’s arson task force.
“We really have to make somebody accountable for these fires, and I know in the past we had an arson task force in the city, and it was very successful,” he said.
In an email, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said it is “exploring all avenues available to us to prevent lengthy demolitions from occurring and to expedite the remediation process.”
— with files from Katie May
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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