THUNDER BAY – As the city’s vacant and dilapidated buildings program seeks to speed up response to run-down properties in tax arrears and hold private owners accountable for managing vacant properties, city staff say property owners who respect bylaws and property standards can rest easy.
City staff have begun a process aimed at speeding up the redevelopment of vacant and dilapidated properties. Fifty-nine potential sites have been identified so far. Summer Stevenson, development services project manager, provided the city’s standing committee on growth with an update Tuesday evening.
The city has several bylaws at their disposal, including the municipal property standards bylaw and vacant building security bylaw, to address the vacant and dilapidated buildings, said Stevenson.
“There’s nothing illegal or inappropriate” about owning a vacant property, but what the city is taking action on is those properties violating the bylaws and the property standards, city manager John Collin told the committee.
“That’s why the program is called the vacant and dilapidated building program, not just a vacant building program… there’s all sorts of reasons why a building could be vacant. We won’t take action against that so long as the building remains in an acceptable condition,” he said.
Coun. Rajni Agarwal asked administration on how the city will treat residents dealing with the estate of a passed loved one or those on sabbatical who have left the country.
“There are definitely a number of scenarios where a building will remain vacant, and we will not be prioritizing response on that. So, should it be that somebody has a property that is sitting in an estate, however, right now, the way that the bylaw is written, those properties would still be required to register,” Stevenson said.
“However, when we start looking at additional tools, there would be cases where there would be compassionate grounds… If we were to recommend fees or fines, there would be compassionate grounds where those would have exemptions to them.”
Under municipal bylaws, the city requires owners to maintain properties to certain standards, is allowed to enter and inspect them, may issue defect notices, orders and penalties, and requires owners to register properties that are vacant for 90 days or longer.
“The goal with this is that we will catch properties when they become vacant. The bylaw also requires that the property be inspected annually. So, this provides us with a mechanism to continuously review properties that are on our vacant building registry, so it’s not decaying when we get to it,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said property owners have access to the community improvement plan grants, which are funded from a stream of the housing accelerator fund, for which the federal government gave the city $2 million to revitalize abandoned properties. The grant provides owners of vacant buildings with an incentive to convert their buildings into housing.
Sixty-eight per cent of the 59 privately owned vacant buildings identified by the city so far are in residential neighbourhoods. These properties have a cumulative assessed value of $27.7 million. Fifty-three per cent of the buildings are in tax arrears, and eight have met the tax sale threshold of 2 years of unpaid taxes.
Based on lot size and zoning, Stevenson said these 59 properties could support more than 234 housing units. Building Services inspected 34 of the vacant buildings. Of those, 41 per cent are in poor condition, 26 per cent are in fair condition and 32 per cent are in good condition. One of the buildings is an immediate safety concern, and 70 per cent have property standards concerns.
Stevenson said the program will “incentivize” property owners to meet the city standards through “fees, fines, and the vacant building registry.”
The vacant building registry is currently an internal list held by the city, but an online registry will be launched by June 2026, she said.
The online registry will offer a portal where the public can file a complaint with the municipal bylaw office. For the time being, members of the public are asked to call the bylaw office, Stevenson said.
