Owners of vacant buildings could soon face stricter standards to board up their properties, with the goal of preventing break-ins and fires.
Mayor Scott Gillingham raised a successful motion to toughen up the requirements at Tuesday’s executive policy committee meeting, which would require the most stringent boarding procedures for all vacant buildings, pending city council approval.
“Right now, we have (different) levels of boarding… The enhanced (version) uses thicker materials. The plywood is thicker. The screws, the fasteners that the building owner is required to use… they’re bigger, stronger, the screws are longer. It makes it much more difficult for anyone to ever break into,” said Gillingham.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham raised a motion for stricter standards when boarding up vacant buildings at Tuesday’s executive policy committee meeting.
The mayor said the change would help combat all-too-frequent fires that endanger neighbours and emergency crews. He said Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and Winnipeg Police Service support the proposed change.
“When you make the boarding more secure, then a building is less likely to be broken into. When it’s less likely to be broken into, there’s less of a chance that (it will become) the site of a fire,” said Gillingham.
The mayor hopes to get the change approved quickly. The final vote is expected at the July 18 council meeting.
In 2023, council had ramped up boarding requirements, but only applied the higher standards to buildings that had been repeatedly set on fire or used by squatters, while this step would apply the requirement across the board.
“It will move us right to the most stringent enhanced boarding for anyone who is boarding up their building… That is the new standard,” said Gillingham.
On Tuesday, city officials said they could not provide an account of the number of fires that have taken place at vacant homes this year. The city is currently monitoring 697 properties under its vacant buildings bylaw, said spokesman Kalen Qually.
In June, the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association issued a public plea for help after counting at least 42 burned buildings in their area, including all four homes on Powers Street between Aberdeen and Redwood avenues.
The association’s president welcomed the tougher boarding requirements.
“I definitely think they need to do a better job at boarding these houses up. The screws they’re using, obviously, aren’t long enough because people are breaking into these houses time and time again and they’re just ripping the boards off… I think it would help if they enhance that and make it a lot harder to get into these houses, which would definitely cut down on fires,” said Darrell Warren, the association’s president.
Warren said the fires create huge costs for taxpayers because police and firefighters are constantly called to deal with them.
People who live next to vacant homes fear a blaze could spread to other properties next, he said.
“Most of these (vacant) houses are located beside houses that people are living in… A lot of people have a lot of sleepless nights because they always think there’s going to be a fire next door in the boarded-up house,” said Warren.
He called the step a good move forward, noting he’s also eager for any steps by the city to take over more derelict properties.
Gillingham’s motion also calls for increases to some fees on vacant buildings, such as raising the empty building fee to two per cent from one per cent of a property’s assessed value.
Meanwhile, the mayor also raised motions that aim to speed up the process to develop new housing.
Gillingham is calling for the city to end its formal pre-application process for developments by Dec. 31, 2024. Another motion aims to remove the requirement that a traffic study be completed before a development application can be accepted for residential or mixed-used projects with 20 or more housing units in a single structure.
Traffic studies could still be required by council or city staff at a later point of the process.
“This is all about getting more housing built quickly by trying to reduce the chokepoints and reduce red tape,” said Gillingham.
Lanny McInnes, president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association, said some of the changes could speed up housing development projects.
“In some instances, it likely will (save time and money). (While) it’s no silver bullet, it’s dealing with multiple items that do take time and do take money and don’t necessarily impact the ultimate decision that council makes when it comes to a development being approved,” said McInnes.
The executive policy committee approved both housing motions on Tuesday, which require final council votes.
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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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