CITY REVIEWS PRIVATE PARKS
Flood fix proposed for one property
The fact a neglected 106-yearold private Riverside Drive park is owned by no one could be the key to solving the flooding nightmares it has reaped on its nextdoor neighbour.
A new administrative report details who owns the city’s four private waterfront parks, who holds legal easements to use them and whether the parks are subject to property taxes. It was produced at the request of Ward 6 Coun. Jo-anne Gignac, who explained on Wednesday she hoped the report would address one specific “serious concern” — the overland flooding at one of the parks, a scrubby 15-foot-wide (4.5-metre) strip of land at the foot of Jefferson Boulevard referred to as Jefferson Private Park.
“The report was necessary for me to make sure we could move forward in a logical way as a municipality,” she said, explaining that what she thinks will ultimately happen is the city taking ownership for unpaid taxes and either addressing the flooding problems or selling it off to one of the abutting owners.
To the west is the RCMP detachment. To the east is the Dunn property, which has been overwhelmed by water rushing in from the small park in recent years as river levels reached record highs. It got so bad, the Dunn family paid to have an expensive steel breakwall installed on the park property last year when they replaced the breakwall in front of their own property. The
RCMP also has a breakwall.
“We paid for that wall because we had to, the water was coming up and pouring in,” Margaret Dunn said Wednesday, recounting the efforts she and her family went through to find the park’s owners in hopes of solving the problem. It turned out the residents in the first blocks of Jefferson had easements to use the property but weren’t the owners.
Jefferson Private Park, the report discovered, is an orphan and has become subject to property taxes that no one is paying. Dunn expressed hope her family will ultimately be able to purchase the park and take care of it to prevent further problems.
For a private park to not be taxed, this “common land” must be “owned by two or more persons, each of whom also owns a residential lot in the community,” the report says, citing the provincial Assessment Act. A search at the Land Registry Office revealed that when the land was registered in 1918 (it was created four years earlier), the registered owners were Vincent Daugharty, Charles Scott and Edward C. Kenning. So then staff went looking for any record of other properties currently owned by those three people in Windsor. They found nothing.
“I’m guessing they’re no longer alive — that was over 100 years ago,” said deputy city solicitor Wira Vendrasco, who authored the report. It explains that when the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. discovered the ownership situation, it changed the status of the park so it will be subject to property taxes. How much it will be taxed and how far back the taxes go is not known, though Vendrasco said she doesn’t expect it would go past 1998 when new regulations came out.
“Property taxes for this property are currently in arrears,” the report says. “If this situation continues then this property will be registered for tax arrears and be processed through the tax arrears procedure under the Municipal Act.”
That means it could be taken over by the city, and sold for unpaid taxes. This process takes several years, giving any possible heirs the opportunity to step in. Gignac is hoping the result will be that the park has an owner who can take responsibility for the property.
Vendrasco didn’t know whether a change in ownership for the park would mean the people holding easements could no longer access it. Residents interviewed Wednesday indicated that some of them used it years ago, to basically enjoy the view of the water, but their usage had dropped to almost nothing in recent years as the park deteriorated. To call it a park is really a misnomer.
“If you drive by, you may not even notice it,” Vendrasco said.
In contrast, the three other private parks are well maintained with no current concerns about overland flooding affecting neighbouring homes, according to Gignac. None of them are subject to property taxes because of their joint ownership by people who own other properties in Windsor.
Three of the four parks were created in Riverside more than a century ago, when there were no public parks fronting the river, says the report that goes to council Monday.
Esdras Park, at the foot of Esdras Place, was created in 1912 as lots were being developed on the south side of Riverside Drive, and Esdras Place and the east side of Reedmere Road between the drive and Wyandotte Street. While the owners of 45 properties on Riverside and Esdras are entitled to easements, ownership rests with three properties on Riverside adjacent to the park.
Rossini Park, at the foot of Rossini Avenue, was created in 1916 and is owned jointly by the owners of 48 properties, primarily on Rossini.
Rendezvous Shores Park is the only private park created in recent years, in 1998, when the Rendezvous Shores subdivision was developed on the north side of the drive just west of the Town of Tecumseh boundary. The park is owned by all the Rendezvous Shores property owners.
The report (on the park) was necessary for me to make sure we could move forward in a logical way as a municipality.