Demolition starts at derelict gas station

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This article was published 23/11/2023 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The old Daly Overpass is being torn down, but the most anticipated demolition in Brandon is finally taking place on Rosser Avenue.

Crews dismantled the gas pumps and the canopy above them at the derelict Esso gas station late Tuesday afternoon and Mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Sun that the rest of the demolition is scheduled to start next Monday.

During this week’s Brandon city council meeting, Fawcett had said the Esso station would be coming down “shortly.”

The station, located at 402 Rosser Ave., has sat dormant since at least 2010, when the Sun first announced it had been listed for tax sale.

In November 2021, the Sun tracked down the director of the numbered company that owns the property, who said no one wanted to purchase the property because the station’s fuel tanks remained in the ground and he did not have the funds to finance the removal himself.

In August, building safety manager Murray Fischer told councillors at a special meeting that the owners of the Esso station had been given an ultimatum: demolish the structure by Aug. 16 or the city would do it for them and then add the bill to the owner’s property taxes.

“If he doesn’t appeal it by Aug. 16, the city will have it demolished, everything removed off the site so the only thing left is grass,” Fischer said at the time.

Fischer added that the city was unable to compel the property owner to remove the fuel tanks buried at the site and the provincial government of the time was unwilling to enforce their removal.

Speaking to the Sun by phone on Wednesday, Fawcett said the delay between the date specified in the ultimatum and this week’s action was due to waiting for Manitoba Hydro to disconnect a natural gas connection to the property.

He said he was “very, very” glad to see progress made at the property.

“This is one of the bolder examples of trying to do some enforcement on derelict buildings,” Fawcett said. “But even with that, enforcement has taken a full year.”

Having learned from the experience, the mayor said he thinks future problem properties can be dealt with more quickly.

Ryan Nickel, Brandon’s director of planning and buildings, confirmed that the demolition was initiated by the city after the property owner did not comply with the city’s orders under the building standards bylaw, and the bill will be added to the site’s property taxes.

The structures on the property will be removed, but Nickel said the fuel tanks will not be coming out of the ground for now.

“Under the (Contaminated Sites Remediation Act), the province is responsible for the cleanup of impacted sites,” Nickel said. “So, the tank removal is really something that should be dealt with at a provincial level.”

With the owners still in arrears for their property taxes, it is likely that the property will eventually be listed once again for tax sale.

Of potential benefit to the city, should Brandon decide to acquire the property through tax sale, is a clause in the Contaminated Sites Remediation Act exempting municipalities from being held responsible for the remediation of properties acquired “as a result of a tax sale proceeding or under circumstances prescribed by regulation.”

Nickel said there are other vacant and derelict properties in the city, some of which are downtown, that still need to be dealt with, which was why city council approved changes to the rules governing them earlier this year.

Under those changes, the city does not have to acquire vacant or derelict properties to deal with bylaw violations. Instead, such as for safety issues, work can be completed and then charged to the owner’s tax bill.

“The most challenging properties are the ones where, in some cases, the value of the property is not that great,” Nickel said.

“We’re worried about some of the risks of the city potentially acquiring the property and the city having some financial risk. There are some challenges out there, but we have been finding some success, I think, working with owners in terms of using their property. The ultimate goal is we want people to keep their properties in good shape, but to find good uses for the property that add value to the community.”

Nickel said the goal is to have the demolition work completed by the end of next week.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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