City urged to fine owners of derelict properties
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2019 (2227 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After a successful summer pilot program fining Winnipeggers who don’t cut their grass, the city is considering a similar approach to clean up messy and derelict properties.
After two visits from a bylaw officer, the public service wants property owners fined $225 to encourage compliance with the city’s neighbourhood liveability bylaw, which covers everything from garbage to critter infestations to fire hazards.
The fine is just one of 10 recommendations the city is considering to “enhance neighbourhood liveability” and clean up “community blight” in a report headed to council’s executive policy committee Tuesday.
Owners of long-vacant buildings could be hit with an Empty Building Fee. Owners of properties vacant for more than five years could be fined one per cent of the property’s assessed value every year until it’s occupied.
It’s based on Vancouver’s empty building tax, but will also include commercial buildings.
Of Winnipeg’s 538 long-term vacant buildings, only 101 have been empty for longer than five years.
The empty building fines would be used to support affordable funding initiatives, though it’s not yet clear how much money the program would take in.
The public service also wants to hire a full-time staffer to administer the new derelict building rules.
Since re-inspections take up about 75 per cent of officers’ time, the city believes fining problematic properties will easily pay one full-time salary.
The fines would only be applied to bylaw officers’ third and subsequent visits.
Every year, there are about 1,000 such visits.
The new staffer’s salary will be covered if only 320 fines are issued.
In June, the city implemented a similar process for grass-cutting scofflaws — first there’s a visit from a bylaw inspector, then a non-compliance notice issued. On the third visit, derelict lawn-keepers can be fined $250 to have their grass cut for them.
The move from bylaw tickets to an automatic fine-and-cut system led to a dramatic increase in enforcement in June. More recent statistics were not immediately available.
tvanderhart@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @tessavanderhart