ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: December 2, 1997

CC File No. 2701-1

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: The City Building Inspector

SUBJECT: Warning to Prospective Purchasers of 122 - 126 West Hastings Street and

130 - 132 West Hastings Street

Lots 12 - 15, Block 28, District Lot 541, Plan 210, LD 36

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the City Clerk be directed to file a 336D Notice against the Certificate of Titles to the properties at 122 - 126 West Hastings Street and 130 - 132 West Hastings Street in order to warn prospective purchasers that there are Building By-law deficiencies in these buildings and that the City is in the process of obtaining an executed operating agreement between the current property owners and the City with respect to the securing and regular patrolling of these buildings by a private security firm in order to ensure that they remain unoccupied.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

The Vancouver Charter, Section 336D, provides a mechanism whereby the City Building Inspector can warn prospective purchasers of a condition relating to land or a building or structure that he considers

(a)to be a contravention of a By-law or regulation relating to the construction or safety of buildings or structures; or

(b)as a result of that condition, a building or structure is unsafe or is unlikely to beuseable for its expected purpose during its normal lifetime; or

(c)the contravention is of a nature that a purchaser, unaware of the contravention, would suffer a significant loss or expense if the By-laws were enforced against him.

In such instances, he may recommend to City Council that a resolution be considered, pursuant to Section 336D (2), directing the City Clerk to file a notice against the title to the property in the Land Title Office.

DISCUSSION

These two buildings are situated in the Victory Square area and have been vacant for a number of years. Police, Fire and Property Use Inspectors have attended the buildings on a number of occasions as a result of complaints about transients gaining entry. The inspectors report that transients have set up "campfires" within the building and have removed anything of value including the fire alarm system, electrical wiring and sprinkler piping. At present, there are holes in the floors and fire separations and the buildings are full of discarded materials including hypodermic needles and human waste.

The Fire and Police services have expressed concern about the safety of their members accessing the building in the event of a fire or health emergency.

The owner of the property has made a concerted effort to keep the buildings boarded up on the main floor, however, it has become apparent that the transients are gaining access to the buildings via the rear fire escapes, roof, and from the adjacent buildings.

City staff have met to discuss the various options available to rectify this situation. It was agreed that although demolition of the buildings was an option, it is not desirable. There are other factors that need to be taken into consideration. For instance, the buildings are listed on the Heritage Inventory as Heritage B. There is an interested purchaser considering redevelopment of the property for low cost housing that will be contingent upon the transfer of heritage bonusing. This bonusing will not be available if the buildings are demolished. As well, the City cannot allow "demolition by neglect".

Because of the above, City staff met with the owners representative to discuss the issues and possible remedies. As a result of the meeting, the owner of the property is in the process of entering into an operating agreement with the City, wherein he will agree to secure all openings in the building, remove the fire escapes, downpipes and other exterior apparatus that is being used by individuals seeking to gain access to the building, barricade all points of entry from neighbouring properties and hire a security firm to monitor the buildings regularly to ensure that they remain unoccupied. The City in turn, will agree to assist theowner in having the buildings vacated by transients.

It should be noted that when discussing this proposed agreement, the owner's representative expressed concern that these buildings were being singled out amongst all the other vacant properties in the area. City staff responded that they will be conducting a review of all the existing vacant buildings in this area and where applicable, will be pursuing similar operating agreements with the respective property owners. By this means, the City hopes to prevent the destruction of building services to the point that they become uneconomical for redevelopment or reoccupancy.

In addition, the Law Department has reviewed the Building By-law authority for the City Building Inspector to order the securing of unsafe buildings. Previously such orders have simply instructed that the building be physically secured. If such an order is not complied with, the By-law allows the City to have the work done and to recover the costs from the owner. Legal Services is of the opinion that orders under this section of the By-law can also require the owner to ensure that the building is maintained in a secure condition through regular inspection, security patrols or whatever similar means are necessary to prevent trespassers from taking up occupancy. In cases where notice has been given to the owner and we are unable to obtain the owners agreement to maintain the security of abandoned buildings deemed unsafe by the City Building Inspector, this provision of the By-law may be used to require that the building be kept secured, free of trespassers and monitored regularly at the expense of the owner.

Because the properties are currently up for sale, the owner has agreed to the filing of a 336D notice on Title to ensure that any prospective purchaser is made aware that the City is in the process of obtaining an executed operating agreement related to these buildings and that any new owner will be expected to enter into a similar agreement with the City until such time as the buildings are redeveloped.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver