Property ‘looks like a dump site’

A construction site on Lorette Avenue in the Earl Grey neighbourhood continues to be a problem property for neighbours.

One year after the Free Press reported the site of a formerly derelict house had stunted construction for more than a year, there is a nearly complete home, but there is also a massive pile of garbage and an unlocked porta-potty in the back lane.

A heap of construction trash littered the back of the property Monday morning. Cardboard boxes, buckets and scrap lumber were piled high across the property’s backyard. The porta-potty on the lot was unlocked and toilet paper was strewn across the site.

Kevin Stuart lives behind the property and sees people use the portable toilet regularly, as well as add their garbage to the growing pile.

Stuart hasn’t seen anyone working on the home for months.

“It looks like a dump site,” he said Monday.

In April 2025, Stuart told reporters the house hadn’t been worked on for more than a year. At the time, a concrete foundation had been poured but no other work had been done.

In 2023, the Free Press reported the vacant home on the property was a target for firebugs and squatters. In May of that year, the home was hit by fire again and was later demolished.

Today, the two-storey home appears to be nearly finished on the outside, but the garbage remains and the site seems abandoned, Stuart said.

City records show a building permit was issued for the property on Nov. 16, 2023. Under city bylaws, the permit can remain open for three years, at which time the work should be completed and final inspection conducted.

A permit-holder can request extensions, which would require approval from the city.

Stuart has made several complaints to 311 about the property in the past, including one last week about the trash pile.

A 7-Eleven at the end of the alleyway means garbage from some customers passing by has ended up on the pile, Stuart said. Several shopping carts have also been dumped on the property.

“I feel like once people know about the spot it attracts more people to it and they use it at their will,” he said, adding that he saw three different people use the porta-potty over the weekend.

The city has received one report about the property this year, which is under investigation by the licensing and bylaw enforcement department, spokesperson Kalen Qually said. Any bylaw violations will be addressed with the property owners.

There are site condition requirements as part of approved construction permits, Qually said. Construction sites must have an approved waste-management plan with a properly sized disposal bin for waste materials.

Stuart said he feels city bylaws are not being applied evenly in this situation.

“If I had this kind of garbage in my yard I would hope the city came to tell me to clean it up, or give me a ticket or something,” he said. “It’s not just the city’s fault, it’s that they don’t seem to pressure — at least this owner — to have the same civic view as every other homeowner is expected to have.”

The city’s property and neighbourhood standards dictate properties must be maintained and free of any accumulation of junk, litter or debris.

Portable toilet placement and usage is regulated by the province’s workplace health and safety rules, but the regulation does not dictate whether the facility must be locked after work hours.

The property owners, previously identified as BSA Group Ltd., could not be reached for comment Monday.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca