City Council has decided that another derelict building in Prince Rupert needs to be torn down, this time it's a house located at 301 9th Avenue West.
The house's owners both recently passed away and the property has been up for sale as part of settling their estate. But the city's building inspector says that the building is in absolutely dire shape structurally. He also believes that it would be a very expensive job to repair the house and bring it up to “an acceptable standard.”
According to city staff, there is one person considering buying the property, but there are no solid plans for either repairing or demolishing the derelict home soon, so the council has decided to push the issue. The current owners of the property will have two weeks to respond before the city can take matters into its own hands and pull down the house.
To do so is expected to cost the City $15,000, they would then send the bill to the property's current owners. If they can't pay it, then the City can seize the property and sell it in order to recoup the money.
The property without the house is assessed to be worth $27,700, but isn't considered to be easily developed. That, and the fact that the City has had mixed results when trying to sell similar properties for the same reason means that it is hard to predict if it can be sold successfully.