A controversial property on 99th Street in North Battleford has escaped the wrecking ball.
Instead, a demolition order issued by City Hall on a property at 1261- 99th St. will be held in abeyance until Jan. 31, 2013, pending progress by the owners on major renovations to the building.
The owners had outlined a plan to renovate the interior and exterior of the property from the dilapidated state it had been in under a previous tenant. Owner Mike Kryger appeared before council Tuesday and leveled the blame at the former tenant for the state of the property.
The tenant had been evicted on 24-hours notice following a Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods investigation involving the RCMP. Soon after, in October, the property was placarded by public health.
The owner has paid back taxes and started work on repairing the building. Councillors and administration officials noted there was some progress on the exterior.
But weighing heavy on the minds of councillors were comments from administration officials about the activity at the property. City Manager Jim Toye told the meeting that he had "people calling me crying because of what's going on in that particular house."
Toye noted police had been called to the property several times. As well, Fire Chief Pat MacIsaac said there were "dozens of neighbours complaining about this house" and that the area residents had tried taking their complaints to the owner, "to no avail."
City Building Inspector Jerry Wintonyk commented on the state of the property.
"We were appalled that we would have a house like that in the city," he said.
Still, Wintonyk had no objection to allowing the renovations to go ahead, though he did note the owner needed to be committed to checking up on the property and making the required repairs.
On the recommendation of Toye, council opted to hold the demolition order in abeyance to ensure timelines on the renovations and repairs are met.
