SYDNEY, N.S. — Finally, the light can be seen at the end of the derelict building list in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
Municipal officials believe in a few more years, the demolition list of vacant properties won’t exist.
“Headway is being made,” said Paul Burt, CBRM’s manager of building, planning and licensing.
“I do believe we’re actually getting ahead of it. We still have a few more years where we’ll get to zero or close to it. We are dealing with the ‘worst of the worst’ and it seems like we’re finally getting the upper hand.”
Burt said currently they are making a list for the next round of demolitions of vacant structures and will be taking it to council in March or April.
In the meantime, he said there were 10 properties approved for demolition in the fall and seven have been completed. The next one involves a building at 853 Victoria Rd., across from the legion in Whitney Pier.
Burt said there are about 370 addresses still in the system, tied to vacant properties in regards to a complaint about the building either unsightly or derelict. Most of the derelict buildings are in the former coal mining communities.
Burt said they average about 600 complaints a year.
In 2009, the list of vacant and derelict properties was at an all-time high of about 750. Burt joined the department as manager five years ago.
“From that 2009 assessment until now, we’ve basically been able to trim that list in half,” he said. “The number isn’t growing anymore, it’s actually going in the right direction.”
A problem years ago was the out-migration rate of people heading west for work and simply walking away from their property.
“The situation where we take 10 down and another 10-20 are added to the list, that’s not happening anymore,” he said. “It’s more dealing with the old inventory now.”
Burt said the CBRM is finally starting to see the light, with the Nova Scotia Community College Marconi Campus slated to be built in downtown Sydney and the private sector interested in building. They are starting to issue more permits and seeing builds on vacant lots.
The department is issuing well over 100 demolition permits a year and is only responsible for about 50. The others are being driven by the private sector. Either someone’s demolishing an older building to make way for a new building or the properties are finally getting sold and the new owners are coming in and demolishing old buildings and rebuilding.
“The other end of the economic decline is we’re now starting to get these vacant buildings back on the tax roll and people coming in and paying taxes,” Burt said. “Whether repairs or knocking them down and putting a new duplex on the lot, we’re seeing a lot of those.”
In Glace Bay, he said, the New Aberdeen Revitalization Affordable Housing Society has been doing great community projects and community cleanups including working with the municipality to market vacant lots, encouraging people to build on them.
Burt said the turnout hasn’t been miraculous, it’s slow and a lot of work and there’s still a lot of work to be done but it’s picking up and the society is doing a great job.
“We’re seeing our first mini home and are really expecting to see a rush in more of that type of development now.”
The old train station on Dodd Street in Sydney is also a big concern for the municipality, he said.
"It’s on our radar,” he said. “It’s unsightly, it’s right in our downtown area. It’s an ongoing issue."
Burt said the municipality has boarded it up and the owner has boarded it up but the heavy gale of wind about a month ago blew some panels from the end of it and the building is open right now.
“We’re trying to get the owner to seal it up or we’re going to seal it up.
“The owner cleaned the property but hasn’t secured it yet, so I think we’re going to be reaching out to him to at least secure it.”
The building has been identified by some as an opportunity for a new business.
“The bones are there,” he said. "It’s going to take a complete revitalization, refurbishing, but it's still a solid building and it's in a great location. I think if we see an influx of businesses coming into the area, he’s well positioned to take advantage of that, however, he still has a responsibility to deal with what he has there now.”
The former Sydney train station handled east-bound Via Rail trains before the Sydney service was eliminated by the federal government in 1990.
Burt said they are also excited about the new owner and plans for the former Cape Breton Post building on Dorchester Street.
“That’s another eyesore. We’ve met with the new owner about the plans. Time will tell.”
Ashley Anne McNeil of Whitney Pier was walking by the soon-to-be demolished derelict building on Victoria Road which is boarded up and has a tax sale sign posted.
“That’s a dangerous building, falling apart and right at the sidewalk,” McNeil said.
However, McNeil was happy to discover this building is next on the CBRM’s demolition list.
McNeil said she is always happy to hear of vacant buildings being torn down, although she said it would be nice to see these big buildings renovated and new businesses opening. Over the past number of years some new businesses have opened up and buildings renovated along Victoria Road which is good to see, she added.
RELATED:
