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City of Powell River staff recommend property demolition

Resolution to begin tear down of nuisance dwelling will go to vote
house derelict
TEAR DOWN: City of Powell River council will vote at its December 15 council meeting whether to declare a property on Joyce Avenue a nuisance, which would begin the process of demolition. Chris Bolster photo

City of Powell River council has been given a recommendation from the city’s building inspector to declare a dilapidated home on Joyce Avenue a nuisance.

At a committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, November 29, building inspector Graham Stewart presented a report on the next step the city can take to clean up the property at 4468 Joyce Avenue.

Before any order can be made, council must first pass a resolution declaring the property a nuisance. Once that is done, owners of the property have 60 days to comply, tear the house down and clean up the property or the city will be empowered to take that on at the owner’s expense.

“It is staff’s belief that the owner will not take any action to demolish the building or remove the debris and clean up the area unless forced to do so,” Stewart told the committee.

According to Stewart’s report, the property owner did not take out a city demolition permit for the work already underway in September. On top of that, since the city issued orders to not occupy or enter the building, city staff has been unsuccessful in reaching the owner through mail or by phone, according to Stewart.

The property in question is assessed at $88,500 and the demolition and cleanup will cost approximately $15,500, he added.

Section 80 of the BC Community Charter allows local governments to charge the owner of a property for all costs associated with the remedial action and recover those costs through the sale of the property if left unpaid. Stewart said the financial impact of the action would be limited to time spent by staff to administer the action and oversee the demolition and cleanup.

After Stewart’s presentation, councillor CaroleAnn Leishman asked if the demolition could be handled by machine or if it would require an engineer to stabilize the structure in order to have someone enter the building and perform a hazardous-materials assessment.

“Good news is the building is so old it probably does not contain any of the hazardous materials,” said Stewart. If it does, the cost of demolition could double, he said.

City chief administrative officer Mac Fraser said the demolition order would apply to the house and the outbuilding next to it, and the cleanup would be for the entire property.

Council will vote on the recommendation on Thursday, December 15.