It was 1987 when city hall first received complaints from residents about the cleanliness of 1129 Albert Street, and in those four decades, the concerns have been almost non-stop.
City hall has received more than a dozen recorded complaints about the “non-conforming state” of the property during the past 34 years, while a resident even wrote a letter to the Times-Herald in June 1999 complaining about the property, a city council report explained.
The property had been vacant for more than 12 years when a resident complained to city hall in 2001 about rodents running around. The property has sat vacant — and the water turned off — since 2015.
Frustrated that property owners Joven and Raquel Pena — who live in Saskatoon — have not fully complied with past or current property maintenance clean-up orders and have left the property in an unliveable or acceptable state, city hall issued another order on Jan. 22 demanding that they demolish all buildings by March 5.
The report noted that the property is a nuisance to neighbours and a nearby elementary school; the vacant and boarded home depreciates the value of adjacent properties; the roof has deteriorated and most of the building’s openings are boarded over; and the openings and unkempt property attract vermin.
During its March 8 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to uphold city hall’s demolition order issued on Jan. 22. The municipality will now contract the demolition project, demolish every structure on the property, backfill the pit and charge the accrued costs to the Penas.
“No extension should be granted (for this property). It needs to be demolished as soon as possible,” said city manager Jim Puffalt.
Councillors Crystal Froese and Doug Blanc noted that they have often driven by the property often and noticed how unkempt and abandoned it is. Froese was worried about people starting a fire in the house, while Blanc has always wondered why the house has been in a continual state of disrepair.
Neither the Penas nor anyone representing them spoke to council about the demolition order.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 22.
