The demolition of two homes in Prince Rupert was on the agenda at the September 6 city council meeting, and while one was given a reprieve the other will be demolished.
The owner of the building at 1001/1003 Third Avenue West had told council he would attend the meeting but ended up submitting a letter that day indicating that work would be done “with an approximate time frame of sixty days as funds trickle in”. Councillors said that, given the first notice against the property was given in December of 2010, the response from the owner was inadequate.
“I think council has given this gentleman plenty of time and worked with him. He came to the last meeting and said he would return on September 6 with financing but his words 'as funds trickle in' doesn't show that has been done....I think something has to be done and remove this eyesore for the community,” said councillor Kathy Bedard.
“We've given him a considerable amount of time and he has done very little....I've been getting a lot of complaints from the public and it is time to move on this,” added councillor Gina Garon.
Councillor Sheila Gordon-Payne asked whether the structure was also a safety concern, and heard from staff that they haven't been able to determine that.
“On two occassions staff arranged a time to inspect the stability of the structure from the inside and in both cases no keys were produced so we have not been able to asses that,” said corporate administrator Robert Grodecki.
Given that council voted to have the building torn down.
The owner of the building at 906 Comox Avenuespoke to council and asked for more time to sell the property.
“We acknowledge that the building is unfinished and has been for some time. The reason it was not done is personal and I do not see a benefit to publicize that, but our situation has not improved and feel it best to sell the property. We have spoken with the realtor and to accomplish that it will be listed at $31,000 less than the taxable value...I don't see our time line permitting us to do anything with it and would like to sell it to recoupe some of our investment,” explained David Salyne, who also apologized to neighbours who are offended by the state of the property.
“The building is sound but the natural vegetation has taken over. We propose removing the vegetation to make the site less offensive and more likely to sell.”
Council agreed with his plan and lifted the notice on the property for sixty days to increase the likelihood of sale. However, council also said if the vegetation wasn't gone in two weeks they wouldn't be lifting the order.