Councillor fuming at city staff after issue with rental
Just three weeks after a landlord won permission for a basement suite in a Parkdale rental house — nearly a year after city staff first inspected it — the province’s health authority has found the whole house unfit for human habitation.
“Our people haven’t got a clue what the hell they’re doing,” said Coun. Tony Caterina, floored that none of the health problems were highlighted by city staff.
A health inspector found a strong sewer smell. The basement clearance was only five-feet-six inches in some areas, the shower nozzle was attached with adhesive tape, smoke detectors weren’t working, many windows had insect screens missing and the basement windows were too small to be used to escape a fire.
Several core neighbourhoods have been struggling with problem rentals for years and even so, city staff used their discretion to issue a development permit when this lot was too small to meet zoning bylaw requirements.
“I need a complete report on what went on here,” Caterina said. “This one really, really smells.”
“We know the circumstances in McCauley, in Parkdale and in some of the other neighbourhoods,” he added. “This isn’t the first property of its kind that’s come forward and again the community had to be the ones to (appeal it). “I’m so mad right now.” The city’s residential compliance team first inspected the property in October 2014. They noted there was no permit for the basement suite, but didn’t report anything about living conditions to Alberta Health Services.
The landlord applied for a permit in February. The city approved it, and the neighbouring residents fought that decision at the subdivision and development appeal board in early August. They said the units were poorly run, with tenants adding to the ongoing theft, fighting, threats, noise and garbage coming from a string of properties all owned by the same man.
But the board approved the suite at 11234 86th St. anyway. AHS said it received its first complaint Aug. 14. An inspector issued the health order Aug. 27, forcing all residents to move out by Sept. 11.
The property belongs to Abdullah Shah, who changed his name from Carmen Pervez after he got out of jail in 2010 for mortgage fraud.
He owns a string of rental properties and rooming houses on 86th Street, north of 112th Avenue, and has previously told the appeal board he owns 100 houses in Edmonton.
AHS currently has three active health orders from 2015 for properties where either Shah or his business partner, Sarah Fassman, are listed as the property manager or owner.
Residents and the community league who fought the basement suite declined to comment on advice from their lawyers. Shah launched a $1-million defamation lawsuit against them this month.
Fassman said she and Shah will be appealing the heath order. “There was a misuse of authority,” she said.
Livia Balone, the city’s director of development and zoning, said her staff are only responsible for investigating violations of the zoning bylaw, although they are expected to report other violations to the appropriate department and provincial agency when they see them.
“We do work with our partner agencies,” she said. “I don’t know when these maintenance things happened.”