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City wants to reduce unsightly downtown properties

Jun 22, 2017 | 1:07 PM

The City of North Battleford is continuing its efforts to revitalize the downtown by taking a hard look at a number of unsightly vacant commercial properties. According to the mayor, the properties are not only an eye sore in themselves, but also hurt the city’s potential for new potential economic growth, and create a safety issue.

The issue was raised at a recent planning committee meeting, as well as at the last Battlefords Chamber of Commerce meeting on June 20.

Mayor Ryan Bater is particularly concerned about two locations that stand out – the former Shell building on 100 Street and the former RCMP building (the south-east corner of 100 Street and 20th Avenue).

“I did bring to the attention of administration two properties on the north end of 100 Street that are unsightly and unkempt. The city does have bylaws and standards already in place so I was merely bringing that to the attention of administration to ensure we are enforcing those bylaws.”  

He wants the city’s community safety officers (CSO) to enforce the city bylaw for property standards to help to force the property owners to act and improve their properties, or else face a penalty.

Currently, at the old Shell building site the facility is boarded up with the weeds overgrown on the property. The mayor added a residential lot behind this building also owned by Shell is overgrown with weeds.

Similarly, the former RCMP building property is also overgrown with grass and weeds.

“It is a field of grass and weeds behind the building,” added the mayor. “If you travel on 101 Street, it’s hard to ignore. There is a security gate that is wide open that I saw the other day, which means that children living in the residential area could venture in there, and potentially get hurt. It’s not a situation we want.”

Bater said the former RCMP station already has received a city order to clean up the property, that administration has already been working on. And the former Shell building is in the process of being addressed by administration.

“I was satisfied at the meeting, but I want them to continue until these properties are cleaned,” he said.

The mayor said all city properties need to meet the property standards requirements.

“You can’t have overgrown foliage, and refuse lying around,” added Bater. “You have to maintain your properties to a standard that everybody here wants to enjoy.”

The City’s CSO manager Keith Bott said the CSOs are there to enforce the city’s bylaws.  

“We identify a property within the community that has some issues. Then, we would do a property inspection and we would provide the resident or the resident-owner with the property inspection (order) that they clean up the property. Then, we provide them with that order with a certain period of time to conduct those duties. If they don’t follow the rules after that, or if they don’t meet the date, then it goes on to the next step where the city will hire someone to go in and do that work for them. Then, (the cost) will just be added to the person’s taxes.”

Cleaning up the downtown area and commercial corridors in the city are a priority for the city also to ensure the city is attractive to potential new businesses.

“Any unsightly properties in the city are a bad thing,” said the mayor. “But it’s especially bad when it’s on 100 Street, which is not only our main artery through the heart of our city, it’s also a provincial highway.

“We have a lot of traffic on that street. A lot of people who live here, but also people who are visiting here are seeing that. If you come into the city from the north end and travel south. Those two properties (the former Shell station and former RCMP station) are two of the first properties you see. That does not present the city in a way we want the city presented.”  

The mayor also recently discussed the city’s proposal to impose a Vacant Commercial Property Bylaw on long-standing vacant buildings where the property owners no longer have a business licence, and have discontinued their utilities service.

Bater said, consistent with the downtown renewal plan, it’s his mission to improve the downtown commercial sector to help the city grow and prosper, and promote economic development.

“We want to make North Battleford great again,” he said. “It’s always been great but we do have properties that are contributing to unsightliness.”

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW