City eyes concrete plan to speed up demolition of derelict buildings

The city could soon make it quicker to demolish some buildings, shaving weeks off the process.

The move is designed to rid neighbourhoods of unused buildings and tackle the blight created by vacant, derelict structures.

A new proposal calls on city council to remove the requirement that a demolition variance process be completed to tear down a home outside the downtown, in cases where the owner doesn’t have approved plans to build something else.

“Removing that process is going to make this potentially a two-week timeline from the time you acquire a property (or decide to demolish it) to tearing down that structure,” said Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of the property and development committee. “What we’re seeing right now is when somebody wants to tear down a property … they get tied up in (a longer process).”

The current process should technically be completed within a month but follow-up questions and other details can extend it beyond that timeline, said Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood).

“At the end of the day, they want to clear this property because it’s an eyesore to the neighbourhood. This is going to exponentially speed that process up,” he said.

The variance requirement was initially introduced by the city to prevent lots from being left vacant for an extended time period, which could decrease the city’s number of housing units and leave neglected lots at risk of becoming eyesores, a city staff report notes.

“In situations where a home is removed without redevelopment, vacant lots often attract litter, illegal surface parking, and ongoing complaints from nearby residents. Ensuring redevelopment is planned and reviewed alongside demolition helps avoid these impacts,” writes James Veitch, the city’s manager of urban planning and design.

Duncan said the need to remove vacant properties and prevent them from becoming neighbourhood eyesores now outweighs the risk of lots sitting empty for extended periods.

“That (was a concern) in the past that we’re going to have this toothless grin effect, where you have missing lots every other (property). However, communities have also said (to) get rid of these derelict properties … We don’t want them burning down and we don’t want piles of rubble on our street. We would rather (have) a clear lot,” he said.

The report notes demolition variances required time-consuming community committee votes prior to 2023, a process that involved a written report and a public hearing. In 2023, city staff were given the power to approve the variances to speed the process up.

Removing the variance requirement would take a further step to ensuring demolitions get approved within about 10 business days.

The change would require city council approval.

City council also asked staff to consider removing a requirement for property owners to obtain demolition permits. The staff report rejects that idea, stating the permit process helps ensure structures are torn down safely by qualified workers without putting nearby structures at risk.

The report also urges city council to keep a requirement for property owners to pay water and sewer blockage deposits, which help ensure those services are properly disconnected.

“We do need to ensure that public safety is prioritized,” said Duncan.

A request to interview a Winnipeg property and development staff member was not granted Friday.

In an email, city spokeswoman Deborah Bowers said demolition variances are already not required in the downtown, where projects require a separate design review.

Bowers said the city is currently enforcing its vacant building bylaw at 768 properties, including 591 residential and 177 non-residential ones.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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