New rules in works for derelict buildings

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/08/2023 (1017 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City of Brandon staff are developing new procedures aimed at making it easier to compel the owners of vacant or derelict properties to maintain them in good condition or have the city do the work for them and stick owners with the bill.

As the city’s building safety manager, Murray Fischer, explained at a special council meeting held via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday evening, the city’s current procedures dictate that if the city issues an order under its building safety or vacant and derelict building bylaws and it is ignored, it is then compelled to obtain the title to that property.

The process for this is laid out in the provincial Municipal Act, but Fischer told councillors that there are a couple of issues with doing so.

The first is that the process is done so rarely that when performing research earlier this year, Murray said staff at the local land titles office did not know the procedures off hand because they have so rarely had to use them.

Secondly, there are several scenarios where the city does not want to come into possession of a property in this manner, like if expensive remediation work is needed.

“It could get really costly,” Fischer told the Sun by phone on Wednesday. “And the city’s in no position to become the biggest landlord in the downtown, right?”

City administration is proposing that procedures be amended so that if an order is issued, the city can enforce that order by carrying out the needed work itself and then billing the property owner for the costs of that work under their property taxes.

“Rather than taking over the property, we’ll issue orders under our building safety and property standard bylaw,” Fischer said. “And that gives us the power to issue instructions for them to do any work necessary to be in compliance with that bylaw.” Under the current rules, the ideal scenario is that when a building is identified as vacant and a complaint is received, the owner applies for a vacant building permit and pays an associated fee.

That fee increases every year in an attempt to motivate the owner to either reoccupy or find a new purpose for the property.

This process is currently voluntary, requiring the city in some circumstances to seek title for a property if an owner does not respond to the orders they’ve been issued.

To sidestep this issue, the new process would see properties get automatically enrolled in the vacant or boarded building programs and have the associated fees added onto property taxes.

If a property has been enrolled in the vacant or boarded building permit program for five years, they would be referred to the city’s building standards committee for review. A fee maximum would also be set, but it has yet to be solidified.

That review process is necessary, Fischer said, to make sure that buildings subject to orders whose owners take no action or don’t pay their taxes aren’t left to linger in perpetuity. It also would allow city council to take actions that fall outside of the scope of the existing bylaws.

Currently, the process for dealing with issues at vacant and derelict properties is complaint driven. A resident or business makes a complaint and the city investigates if action needs to be taken.

Under the new procedures, the downtown safety patrol — private security hired by the city to keep an eye on Brandon’s core — would be tasked with keeping an eye on properties and logging potential issues as part of their regular duties.

This would only apply to downtown Brandon, Fischer said, as it is the location of the majority of issues with vacant or derelict buildings. Complaints will remain the method for dealing with issues outside of downtown.

Overall, the goal is to try to decrease the number of vacant buildings, which are required to pay fewer taxes than occupied buildings.

Coun. Tyson Tame (Ward 10) said he was in favour of the proposed changed at the meeting because they put the onus on owners to maintain their properties.

“That current system is just too lackadaisical,” Tame said. “Just that five-year thing is an excellent piece, because (otherwise) they’ll just let it build forever. The other thing is that when we take ownership of a building, I imagine we would be subject to a land transfer tax provincially.”

Extra revenue generated through the new approach could be reinvested back into downtown Brandon. One possible use for the money is to pay for the downtown safety patrol.

“We’ve heard from the Brandon Downtown Development Corporation that it’s unfair to business owners in the downtown that they pay the lion’s share of the taxes and the vacant buildings are, in a way, not shouldering the burden of taxes in the downtown,” Fischer said.

“What this does is level the playing field so that if you have a building downtown, you’re going to be paying your fair share.”

Reached by phone on Wednesday, BDDC downtown program co-ordinator Emmanuel Ahneku said the new framework has a chance of resuscitating some downtown buildings needing attention. Ahneku is currently serving as the organization’s acting executive director after previous incumbent Emeka Egeson left for another job on July 18.

“We’re positive because we feel that this should help proactively discourage vacant and derelict structures in the downtown,” Ahneku said.

Coun. Barry Cullen (Ward 3) expressed hesitation in using funds collected to monitor a problem rather than solve it.

According to Fischer, downtown property owners will be notified in advance of the new rules going into effect. A date has yet to be set for their implementation, but Fischer said he hoped it would be before the end of the year.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark