Rowhouse row
Large homeless population will likely curtail green space redevelopment for some time
By Hugh Adami, The Ottawa CitizenApril 18, 2010Comments (18)
Turning King Edward Avenue into another Champs-Élysées was more pipe dream than vision when Jim Durrell presented his platform during the 1985 Ottawa mayoral campaign.
But 25 years later, that stretch of King Edward north of Rideau Street finally does have a look of respectability after a $50-million reconstruction. There are new sewers, sidewalks, bold street lighting and a picturesque entranceway to the ByWard Market at York Street that is nearing completion.
But a landmark eyesore remains and it is not coming down — much to the chagrin of Rideau-Vanier Councillor Georges Bédard.
The city will allow exemptions to a policy that prohibits buildings to be demolished unless redevelopment plans are approved first. Bédard, who has taken stock of the dilapidated buildings in his ward, has found some owners willing to apply for the exemption.
But Claude Lauzon, a residential and commercial landlord who owns the eight boarded-up rowhouses on the east side of King Edward, between Clarence and Murray streets, isn’t biting.
The property at 263-275 King Edward could even make a rat wince, so imagine how the poor neighbours around it feel.
The Shepherds of Good Hope, which used the rowhouses for the homeless, was the last tenant. The buildings were vacated in 1999 when a new shelter opened across the street. The vacant buildings have often been broken into and used as flophouses and drug dens.
Just around the corner, at 260 Murray, is another boarded-up, derelict property. It is a house with a rambling addition, and was also used as a shelter from 1990 to 1999. Metal fencing between the buildings blocks access to the back lots.
That property is also owned by Lauzon, as are some other gems in Bédard’s ward.
There is the former Our Lady’s School building, built in 1904, on the northeast corner of Murray and Cumberland. A crumbling building, once a two-unit residence, is next door. Though the buildings do not have a heritage designation, they are located in a heritage area. There has been some lobbying to save both buildings in a redevelopment. But Lauzon believes the school, boarded up for decades, is beyond saving. Ditto for the adjacent building, which was significantly damaged by fire a few years ago.
The four properties have something in common besides the same landlord. They are situated in an area swarming with homeless people, many of whom have mental and addiction problems. That is a big reason why Lauzon isn’t rushing to redevelop them soon.
Lauzon’s daughter Lise, who works for her father, says there aren’t any plans for the King Edward properties now, and even if the Lauzons wanted to get something done, they would be discouraged by the many street people in the area and the problems they have brought with them.
“It’s getting worse,” she says. “It’s sad to see the people involved with drugs and what it does to them … It affects everybody (in the area.)”
Bédard has asked Lauzon to apply for an exemption, which would allow Lauzon to demolish the property, including the building around the corner. The land would then have to be turned into green space — basically a grassed area open to the public. The property would have to be maintained by Lauzon, and he would have to submit a redevelopment proposal within five or six years or face hefty fines.
Bédard says Lauzon hasn’t replied to his letter. Lise Lauzon says razing the King Edward buildings would create a bigger problem. Street people, she says, would congregate there during the warmer months and upset the neighbourhood even more than the eyesore does.
“This is not something we are willing to consider at this point. It’s one thing to demolish, but to maintain an open green space in that area? We have enough street people there already.”
In fact, residents have complained of having to put up with druggies on their front steps and even their backyards, day and night.
The Lauzons asked for a demolition permit to raze the school and residence about five years ago without submitting a redevelopment plan. There was talk of putting up an apartment building, but without a plan — and one that would have had to take in the heritage characteristics of the street — the demolition permit was denied.
Lauzon, who recounts the hurdles they faced for the first phase of a redevelopment on Beechwood Avenue, says new rental units are needed in the Market area. But with the property being in the hub of homeless shelters and other social agencies, Lauzon says it might be best to wait to see if problems can be brought under control before an apartment building is erected.
Consider the strip of homes, she says, adjacent to the old residence. A long gate was erected to keep the homeless off front steps or knocking on front doors, looking for handouts. “The landlord is having quite an issue.”
Would applying for an exemption be something the Lauzons should consider, especially as the area is already overrun by street people, and they wanted the two buildings knocked down five years ago?
Bédard says he doubts an exemption would be granted, given the heritage status of the area and continued interest to somehow save those buildings in a redevelopment.
“Heritage Ottawa and the planning department would like to see those buildings renovated completely,” says Bédard. In the meantime, city staff are studying a proposal by Bédard to have property standards in place for old buildings in heritage areas. He says he wants to stop property owners from just boarding them up until they rot.
Says Lauzon: “We do not abandon a building … if a building is worth saving.”
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Rowhouse/2920562/story.html
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Tough situation here. The city has spent so much to fix up King Edward, these properties really need to be developed.
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