PORT HAWKESBURY: Town council wants the Eastern District Planning Commission (EDPC) to act sooner on dangerous and unsightly premises.
EDPC Executive Director John Bain told the Jan. 6 regular monthly meeting about a number of properties in the town that have been reported for construction debris, over-flowing garbage bins, garbage bags, derelict vehicles, and unsafe steps.
As for the Causeway Shopping Centre, Bain described it as an ongoing file.
Last May, Bain said the building’s owners undertook an engineering report examining structural integrity, specifically a brick assessment and a masonry exterior wall assessment, with recommendations made for repairs. Bain said the owners applied for building permits last month to do those renovations, and the permits have since been issued.
“At the time of the original complaint, there was a significant amount of offensive graffiti on the back of the building, and that’s on ongoing problem they have with the building. But all the graffiti was painted over,” he noted. “They’ve held off on doing a complete paint job on the building until they’re finished the repairs. So in the spring their intention is to paint the building after the repairs are done.”
After they apply new paint, Bain said the owners have an idea for partnering in the community.
“They thought the back of the building might be a possibility for partnering with a non-profit organization, or a school group to do some murals on the back of the building,” he said. “They would be very interested in doing that kind of work on the back of the building if they could find somebody who is interested.”
Deputy Mayor Jason Aucoin said he’s receiving daily complaints about the Causeway Shopping Centre, and after confirming with Bain that the EDPC received the first complaint about it in 2019, he wanted to know why still nothing has been done.
“During the campaign, I heard a lot of complaints about that building now being painted and the look of it,” he said. “Here we are well over two years past that, and it still looks terrible. Here we are in Port Hawkesbury right now; we’re trying to sell this town, we’re trying to get housing developers in, we’re trying to get new business. When they come to town, the first thing they see is that. It makes it awful hard on us to promote this town when we have that sitting in the middle of it.”
Town Councillor Mark MacIver asked if the town has the authority under its bylaw to force a property owner to paint structures.
“The unsightly part of it sometimes is in the eye of the beholder, and you do have to take into consideration the use, and in this case the use is in the back of a commercial building,” he said. “I’ve taken an opportunity to drive around the town to the backs of every other commercial building in the town and this is the worse.”
Bain said the EDPC always tries to get some kind of voluntary compliance as a first step.
“When you order them to do something like painting, and they don’t, then the remedy is for us to go and do it, and that’s always a problem,” he responded.
Town Councillor Blaine MacQuarrie said he’s been hearing about the Causeway Shopping Centre for years.
“During the 2018 by-election and the 2020 election, I certainly heard from residents in the town, particularly around the Summit Park area, about their concerns with the look of the mall and the wish that something could be addressed about it,” he noted.
Noting that she has received numerous complaints and questions, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton also said she wants to see the EDPC move quicker on complaints.
“We would love to see our Port Hawkesbury files moved more quickly than has happened in the past,” she told Bain. “It would be helpful if you were to agree to come and present to council on our Port Hawkesbury Eastern District Planning Commission files on a quarterly basis so you can give us some details on how far the needle has moved on some of these files, so we can also have information that we can pass on to citizens. I know all of our elected officials are getting numerous questions and lots of complaints, and not just on the files that you reviewed this evening, but other properties that are unkempt.”
The mayor asked that any active files on Granville Street be expedited over the next couple of years as the town works on waterfront development.
“Several of the files that you reviewed were directly on Granville Street, as you probably know, waterfront development is one of the priorities that has been set by council,” she said. “Unsightly premises on Granville Street and the Lower Water Street, certainly doesn’t align with our vision of improving our waterfront. Not only in the look of it, but also in function.”
At their next meeting, MacIver recommended council and Bain review the town’s Dangerous and Unsightly Premises Bylaw.
“Maybe he could instruct council on what we can and can’t do with unsightly properties and then council will have answers for members of the public,” he suggested.
Bain agreed to meet quarterly with the town, and he asked that anyone call the EDPC to report dangerous or unsightly properties at: (902) 625-5361 or toll free at: 888-625-5361.
“The only files I have are the four I discussed, so if you’re getting other complaints, it is imperative that you get them to get in touch with me, because I can’t respond to complaints if I’m not getting them,” he added.