Neighbour waits 14 months for demolition of ruined building
City has finally granted permits for tearing down and new construction
Richard Jobin has been a very patient man, but time takes its toll.
A three-storey, six-unit apartment house at 144-146 Barrette St., in Vanier, ravaged by fire in March 2013, still stands, awaiting demolition, even though engineers for the insurer determined there was danger of collapse, particularly the building’s southeast corner.
The City of Ottawa says it is unaware of the engineers’ findings. Had it known, the city says, it would have investigated further to determine whether the building should have been condemned and razed immediately. Instead, it was placed under a demolition control provision, which forces the landlord to acquire a building permit for the property before demolition of the old structure is approved. It’s a way of helping to ensure the property will be redeveloped.
Most affected by a possible collapse is Jobin, whose two-unit rental property next door at 150 Barrette received considerable damage as a result of the fire, including two feet of water in the basement. About $40,000 worth of repairs are still needed to the two-storey building, and his insurance company is ready to send in work crews at any time. But until 144-146 Barrette is levelled, the repairs will have to wait.
Jobin says a makeshift carport in his driveway, wedged between the two homes, is likely supporting the exterior east wall of 144-146.
Jobin is also frustrated because he can’t get any idea when the building will be removed. Robert Milicevic, owner of 144-146, asked him in an email recently to refrain from calling him. Jobin says his lawyer can’t get an answer from Milicevic’s insurance company. “I just want my property back,” he says.
There was word from Milicevic a year ago that demolition was set to begin last May 27. Nothing happened. Then scaffolding went up around the building months later, which again raised Jobin’s hopes. The scaffolding was eventually taken down.
Jobin lost his tenant on the main floor about two months after the blaze because his driveway, between the two properties, was cordoned off for safety reasons, as was the rest of 144-146 Barrette. The driveway is littered with debris, mostly bricks. The tenant started parking on the street and was ticketed three times. When Jobin complained to the city about the tickets and asked what his tenant was supposed to do, he says, he was told: “It’s your problem.”
The tenant couldn’t use his
The owner has advised the city that a contractor has been retained and arrangements are being made to proceed with the work.
deck in the backyard, the place smelled heavily of smoke (it still does) and the side windows, which cracked during the fire, could not be replaced. Some were boarded up from the inside. Jobin says he told the tenant he couldn’t blame him for leaving, and prospective renters walked away when he explained the situation.
Jobin still has a tenant in the upstairs unit, but his insurance company stopped covering his loss in rental income for the main floor apartment at the end of March. That’s $1,600 a month plus some utilities. He is not getting a rebate on his property taxes.
“This thing is so unreal,” Jobin says. “How could something like this last a whole year?”
Jobin’s lawyer sent Milicevic’s insurance adjuster a letter in February, requesting that 144-146 be at least stabilized so that the driveway could be reopened and repairs to his client’s property carried out.
Wawanesa, Milicevic’s insurer, refused comment, as did Milicevic, though he wrote in an email to the Citizen that he will talk once the new building is up. He told Jobin in an email in April the delays aren’t his fault, and implied the “insurance bureaucracy” was tying things up.
But there is some good news for Jobin. The city told The Public Citizen this week that it granted Milicevic demolition and building permits in late April. Milicevic is planning a building with eight apartments, two more than the old property.
Building code services director Arlene Grégoire says the city does not have control on “the timing” of demolition/construction.
“However, the owner has advised the city that a contractor has been retained and arrangements are being made to proceed with the work.”
Stay tuned.