City gets tough on vacant buildings
Nicole O’Reilly
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...cant-buildings
Hamilton’s efforts to keep tabs on its vacant building problem just got some teeth.
A committee of council approved a vacant building registry bylaw Tuesday afternoon, which, if passed by council next week, would make it mandatory for most building owners to register their property after 90 days of vacancy.
Property owners who don’t comply will be taken to court, said Marty Hazell, the city’s director of parking and bylaw services.
First-time residential property offenders will face fines up to $10,000 on the first offence and up to $20,000 on subsequent offences. Commercial property owners will face fines up to $50,000 on the first offence and up to $100,000 on subsequent.
Staff will automatically have to flag the Ministry of the Environment if there is any suspected environmental concern, Hazell said.
Fire and bylaw staff can recommend sites be registered, members of the public can suggest properties through the city’s website, and city staff will be driving around looking for vacant buildings.
Residential properties fit for living and agricultural properties are exempt.
Those registering will pay a one-time administration fee of $240 and a $600 annual fee, Hazell said. Properties found to continually violate bylaws will face additional fines.
The need for an official, well-documented and regularly inspected list of vacant city properties has long been a source of contention.
This past year alone saw the debate resurface when the heritage Century Theatre was forced to be demolished after falling into disrepair, apparently unbeknownst to the city.
The debate gained strength when investigations into abandoned barrels, possibly containing toxic waste, were discovered at three unused properties on Hess, Catharine and Wentworth streets north. These properties’ owners face a long list of health, safety and environmental compliance orders.
Vacant buildings used to be complaint-based only, Hazell said, which inadvertently allowed many properties to fall into disrepair. In January of 2009, the city created a vacant building protocol, wherein properties on the vacant property list are proactively inspected.
That ever-changing and ever-growing list had 76 properties in June 2009. It had ballooned to 165 by Tuesday.
Keeping up with it became too costly, Hazell said. Now the list will be folded into the new registry and the registry’s fees will pay for at least one staff member and a vehicle to keep on top of the vacant buildings.
Staff expect the number of properties on the registry to grow exponentially.
Properties on the registry must be inspected by the building’s owner at least every two weeks and bylaw staff will inspect every three months, he said. Staff will also have more opportunity to document concerns.
Community activist and now Ward 2 council candidate Matt Jelly launched “bylaw crawls” to highlight the problem following the Century Theatre collapse. It was also his complaints about the properties on Wentworth and Hess streets north that led to the ongoing investigations by the city and Environment Ministry.
The registry gives the city more opportunity to gather information about vacant properties, he said.
Councillor Scott Duvall said some of these abandoned buildings, particularly those storing toxic waste, have been an embarrassment to the city.
“I think this is a good start, but we need more,” he said.
Councillor Lloyd Ferguson also referenced what he called a “toxic stew.”
But he’s worried the good guys will pay the extra tax, and the bad guys “will say go take a hike.”
Hazell said that’s where the fines for not registering will hopefully deter would-be law breakers.
Councillor Brian McHattie went a step further and suggested the registry may also encourage people to develop properties to avoid the vacant building fees.
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