Looking for options for Rubin Block

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This article was published 24/11/2017 (2888 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents in South Osborne concerned about a vacant landmark building walked away from a community meeting with more questions than answers last Tuesday.

Around 100 people filled a second floor boardroom at the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre on Nov. 21 to attend an information session on the Rubin Block at 270 Morley Ave. hosted by the newly formed Rubin Block Advocates Association. 

The building on the corner of Osborne Street and Morley Avenue was boarded up in the summer and has been sitting vacant for years. The historic block also has a troubled past: a fire ripped through the third floor of the building in 2014, and in 2011 a man died in the former apartment under violent circumstances, police said.

Jeff Palmer, a South Osborne resident and member of the Rubin Block Advocates Association, said the meeting was called to help area residents get a better understanding of what the city can do and what they can do to encourage redevelopment of the building.

“It seemed like there was a lot of concern on behalf of the residents, and instead of peppering the city with questions we thought we’d invite them to a community meeting and ask them all at once,” Palmer said.

“It seemed that the issue was gaining momentum and everybody was waiting for something to happen and no one was doing anything, so it seemed like it was time to do something.”

Stan Dueck, manager of development and inspections with the City of Winnipeg’s planning, property and development department, said he volunteered to give a presentation on the city’s vacant buildings bylaw and explained to people in attendance how the City enforces the bylaw through fines, inspections, convictions under the vacant buildings bylaw and potential title seizure.

When pressed by the audience members on specifics of the Rubin Block, Dueck however said he could not provide information on that property specifically and had not familiarized himself with the file.

“There are some limitations to what (community bylaw enforcement) would speak to in a public forum or give out to the public,” Dueck said.

Generally, Dueck said under current legislation the City cannot compel occupancy or redevelopment of a vacant property and as long as a building is in compliance with the bylaw it can remain vacant.

According to the City of Winnipeg’s property assessment search, 270 Morley Ave. is zoned C2-Commercial and has an assessed value of $455,000 as of April 2016. The building is owned by Alan Werier of Composite Holdings Ltd. Messages left with the company went unreturned by publication time.

Members of the Rubin Block Advocate’s Association said Werier was invited to attend the meeting but sent regrets.

City councillor for Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Jenny Gerbasi was also absent from the meeting as she was on business with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Ottawa.

Gerbasi said the City is doing everything it can to address concerns with the property within the City’s existing powers and charter.

“I have been following up with community complaints on an ongoing basis for years and trying to hold the owner to account through our processes,” Gerbasi said in an email.

“It is a challenging issue that the community cares deeply about and we will continue to work together as a community to do what we can to ensure safety and compliance with our rules.”

Palmer said suggestions from the community, such as creating a dialogue with the building’s owners, exploring a heritage designation, and keeping pressure on bylaw enforcement by making complaints to the City, will be explored as the association moves forward from the meeting.

“Everything is on the table and the purpose of tonight’s meeting is really to just exchange information,” he said. “We’re hoping to work collaboratively to see what we can do to stimulate the redevelopment of this building.”