Work towards removal of Rose's, Angus Apartments on the horizon

Residents of Prince Rupert Could see demolition work on Rose's within
the next few weeks

The long running saga of attempts to remove a pair of downtown fire sites seems to be nearing a close, with City Council hearing word of the  removal work to come for both the Rose's Structure on Third Avenue West as well as that of the Angus Apartments on Second Avenue West.

The topic came up as part of the Tuesday Council session, with Councillor Barry Cunningham seeking further information, as well as to ask about the city's plans to address other nuisance properties around town.

"I've already talked to the City Manager about it, but I think it should be made public. We had a meeting and the time has now elapsed on the clean up for Third Avenue Rosie's and the Angus apartments and the time frame they're going to be done.

And when we're going to start focusing our attention in the residential areas and a lot of the areas that need to be addressed in those areas also.

I know that tourism season has ended now but anyone walking around certain parts of this town and I've seen a lot of people with maps walking around 8th Avenue kind of lost and things like that ...  in just about every area of this town is a house that has to be addressed.

Abandoned, falling apart, tarps on the roof, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

So I would like to know the timeline for Rosie's, Angus Apartments and when we're going to start concentrating on residential  areas and I hope it's not going to be next spring" -- Councillor Barry Cunningham

In response, Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller who was participating remotely on the evening, outlined that the city is working on the demolition permit for Rose's which should see some activity within the next few weeks. 

"I am working through the process, for the demolition process for Rosie's it is in progress, so we could have the quotes and what not in line to remove that debris. So I'm hoping within the next couple of weeks we'll see shovels and diggers  and the whole bit. But we do need to ensure that utilities are shut off and everything is good and clear"

The Angus Apartments, the subject of a Tax Sale will require a bit
more time before any demolition takes place 

To the topic of the Angus Apartments she observed how  it was the subject of Tax Sale with the city now in the process of completing that transfer to the name of the city, at which time the clean up will take place as well.

"In terms of the Angus Apartments ... the property was subject to Tax Sale so we are just in the process as I understand from Finance, of completing that transfer to the City in the name of the city and then we will commence that clean up as well."

Ms. Miller did not expand much on the nature of the Tax Sale and CFO Corrine Bomben did not join in on the conversation  to outline more on that element and the city's involvement in the process moving forward.

As for a wider clean up around town, she observed that some of the residential properties on the list that are in estate processes which requires additional work for the city.

"In terms of the residential properties, we do have a number of properties on our list that are unfortunately in estate processes right now. So we do have to petition the court for alternative service in order to proceed. But you will be seeing some action prior to the end of the year to what those look like"

Mayor Pond spoke to the topics well, noting how it's issue for the community and how some suggest you would never see such situations in communities like Vancouver.

"I think it's worth following up on that because clearly there's a lot of comment in the community and sometimes I see us compared to Vancouver and this would never happen in Vancouver or whatever.

But, think you sort of have to stop and ask yourself, are we Vancouver right? 

We're not.

And one of the drivers that happens in Vancouver is the sheer value of the property and the amount of taxes that are charged  ... I don't know if people are aware of it but property taxes in Vancouver are based on what could be on the site not what is on the site.

You actually pay taxes on the air rights above your property, so if you are zoned for a 48 storey apartment building, but you have a dry cleaners, you're paying taxes for a 48 storey building right? 

So when that dry cleaner burns down or whatever, there's an economic incentive for the owners and the insurance companies to move quickly, they get in there and clear it out so they can get on to the next ... the City isn't charging around trying to enforce things, there's an economy reality that simply not  present in Prince Rupert"

Mr Pond further observed that when dealing with property rights the City has to be observant of all the legalities required. 

"So the City is often put in the position of having to use the courts and legal processes and in Canada property owners have rights and these things take time.  

And so it's not that we don't see it and it's not that staff aren't working on it, it's just that it takes time.

And we have to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, because if you were to go in and knock down somebody's house and didn't do it legally, the taxpayers of Prince Rupert will be on the hook for that.

And so I appreciate the frustration, there's nobody in this building that doesn't share the frustration.

But you've also got to appreciate that in our community the property values simply don't cause the owners to respond in a way that they would if the properties were worth tens of millions of dollars"

You can review the full conversation to the themes through the City's Video archive starting at the one hour mark of the nights session.

More notes related to the Tuesday Council Session can be reviewed here.

A wider overview of past Council Discussions can be explored here.