'Tear these houses down': Residents get some action on Edmonton's 'problem properties'

Edmonton city councillors want to explore options to hike taxes on "problem properties" and even seize and demolish buildings where taxes have been unpaid.

"In my view, we should have zero tolerance on slum landlords, and we should do everything we can to shut them down," Amarjeet Sohi said Monday.

He added that abandoned properties have become a worsening problem in Edmonton, with four people dying in fires inside boarded-up buildings last year.

The city has identified 486 new "problem properties" since 2018, the community and public services committee heard during an afternoon meeting.

Those sites are mostly on the northern, western and southern edges of downtown, with Alberta Avenue, Jasper Place and Garneau seeing some of the highest numbers.

"These drug houses, these drug dens, these places of violence, abuse and oppression continue to hit our city core communities," resident Christy Morin said during the meeting.

She lives in the Alberta Avenue area and also owns a business there. Morin wants the owners of "problem commercial properties" targeted with higher taxes.

"Our neighbours are exhausted. They do not know what to do anymore. And I have to say, as a resident of 28 years, I don't know what to tell them anymore either."

"It's scary to be out in the yard at night…It's just been a really difficult time the last few years," resident Cora Shaw agreed.

THE COST TO TAXPAYERS

A recent city study provided a snapshot of how much "problem properties" can cost taxpayers.

The 31 properties surveyed were the sites of 2669 police calls in just three years.

Bylaw inspectors and Alberta Health Services officials were dispatched more than 2,000 times to those properties.

"I think people need to be financially penalized for running down neighbourhoods…There is a cost to all of the work that our city staff are doing trying to bring these properties up to a certain standard," Coun. Andrew Knack said.

"People are also picking up and leave communities because of the ongoing, terror really, resulting from living near these types of properties and the ongoing threat associated with them. We simply can't let this continue," Coun. Ashley Salvador said.

"If left unaddressed, the direct cost alone will be far greater than what's contemplated in the motion before us."

SO WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO?

The committee voted unanimously to support spending an additional $1,765,000 on addressing "problem properties," and to study options to deal with the sites.

Some of that cash could go to extending the work of the Community Property Safety Team, which will target owners who are not complying with bylaws. Part of that investment could also provide city staff "enhanced dedicated resources" to deal with "problem properties."

That money is proposed to come from redirected funds from a planned Edmonton Police Service budget increase, which was reduced by about $11 million last fall.

Sohi also wants a study done on what would be the "maximum allowable" tax rate on derelict properties.

A grant program that would "further incentivize redevelopment" of the sites, is also being considered.

Resident Maggie Glasgow said she does not support giving "problem property" owners taxpayer-funded grants because she worries some owners will do the bare minimum in repairs and pocket the rest of the cash.

"If you really want to support the community, tear these houses down. Close them so that these owners don't open them again and allow this chaos to happen continually," she insisted.

The proposal is now recommended by the committee, but still requires the approval of a majority of city councillors at a future meeting.