BONNYVILLE – Complaints received by the Town of Bonnyville have led to the municipality following legal measures to address a “nuisance” property located along Railway Avenue.
Starting at 8 a.m. on Aug. 21, a contracted cleanup crew was at the location of 5003-54 Avenue to begin the process of boarding up unoccupied structures, cutting grass, removing debris and derelict vehicles from the property.
RCMP members were also present Monday morning to make sure the four mobile motel units located on the property were vacant before crews boarded up access to the structures.
“We have received numerous complaints regarding this site and the process typically takes six to eight weeks from the initial warning letter to the final Notice of Entry Order,” stated Ted Traikovski, the Town’s general manager of planning and community services.
While the municipality cannot provide information on who owns the property, it did confirm that the land does have a valid development permit approval for the construction of a 14-unit motel. The building permit for this development was issued back on April 24, 2015.
“Installation of the prefabricated motel units was delayed due to ground material issues when foundation work commenced,” explained Traikovski. “Completed foundation inspections were done in June, July, October of 2015 and January of 2016. Underground work for electrical and water was finished with only connections to the units still being required.”
Of the six mobile units that were brought to the property, two units were lost in a fire in 2020. Only four units remained, although the municipality confirms that none of the units have ever been legally occupied.
“For many years, the site has been found in a nuisance and unsightly state and individuals have been found on the property that the RCMP continue to deal with,” Traikovski stated.
During the site cleanup, the municipality’s community peace officer (CPO) Wanda Tomm, was onsite all day as per the Town’s bylaw to ensure both the public’s safety and that of crews entering and working at the site.
Additional help was also required from Big Time Towing. The business was tasked with removing two derelict vehicles located on the property.
While on site, CPO Tomm told Lakeland This Week, it was a somewhat unusual situation that neither vehicle could be traced to a registered owner through the vehicles’ VIN numbers when searched through the CPO and RCMP’s database.
However, it is suspected that both vehicles, which were found full of garbage and other materials, do belong to the landowner. The vehicles will be impounded for the required 60-day period or until they are retrieved by the landowner, otherwise they will be legally forfeited.
Tomm also confirmed that the cost of the extensive groundwork and supplies used to secure the vacant structures will be added to the property’s tax roll.
The municipality sought three estimates for cleaning up the property before a company was selected to carry out the work for fairness and transparency, she added.
Legal process
Before the municipality was able to enter the private property to clean up the land and secure the vacant structures that had been breached, the Town was required to comply with both the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and its own Community Standards Bylaw.
As with all unsightly properties that the municipality deals with, the process begins with Warning Notices – usually two letters, noted Traikovski.
At that point, if the property owner does not comply with the Community Standards Bylaw or there is no response to the Town’s warning notices, the municipality must seek a Court Order pursuant to the MGA.
If there is no response to the Court Order, then the final letter is a Notice of Entry Order, as was the case for the 5003-54 Avenue property.
“The Town is complaint-driven, and we aim to deal with every complaint fairly and equitably, meaning the complainant and landowner are both engaged and kept apprised of all actions that the Town takes in these matters,” Traikovski outlined.
“The intent going forward is to monitor all unsightly properties that end up in our complaint stream. This property is no different.”
The general manager of planning and community services noted that this includes all residential, commercial and industrial properties that are within the town’s municipal boundaries.
“The Planning and Development Department and the Protective Services Department work very closely to find solutions and resolutions concerning properties with similar issues,” he said.
“There is much work to be done and sometimes the nature of the work is tedious and involves lengthy enforcement timelines... but the goal, as always, is to achieve voluntary compliance from landowners using fairness and reasonableness, but failing this we have the legal process and will continue down the path to achieve compliance on these properties.”
