city of regina to consider upping taxes on derelict houses, downtown parking lots
"we feel like we're a forgotten community. we see the same boarded-up houses for years on end and wonder why they're still there."
5 minute read
leah o'malley, co-ordinator for community patrol group white pony lodge, stands for a portrait outside a boarded up home in the north central neighbourhood on tuesday, feb. 4, 2025 in regina.
kayle neis
/
regina leader-post
plywood on the windows, prime for graffiti; littering of overgrown weeds or trash nearby. maybe there’s scorch marks up the siding, or junk cluttered in the backyard, a fence tilting over into the snow.
each one is a source of anxiety for its neighbours — a potential fire hazard, a break-in opportunity, an emergency overdose call waiting to happen.
wendy miller guesses there’s probably at least one house violating the city’s nuisance bylaw on every block in the heritage neighbourhood.
“they’re a cluster of eyesores,” said miller. “we know that there’s lots of people bunkering in them. lots of them have been burnt out, more than once. they’re an unsafe space.”
as executive director of the heritage community association, she knows well how these derelict lots have become deeply intertwined with other social and economic pressures in regina’s inner-city neighbourhoods.
she also knows there’s widespread frustration, in both heritage and north central where these properties are more concentrated, with how little city bylaws seem to be helping.
“we feel like we’re a forgotten community. we see the same boarded-up houses for years on end and wonder why they’re still there,” said miller.
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it’s why she is “cautiously optimistic” to hear the city of regina is looking into a new, more punitive taxation policy on “nuisance properties.”
the city defines a “nuisance” property as a property or structure in a state that could “adversely affect the safety, health or welfare of people in the neighbourhood.” it includes vacant or abandoned buildings, homes in a “ruinous or dilapidated state of repair” or any property that has been boarded-up for more than 90 days.
council has asked for a report on creating new property subclasses for such properties and for private parking lots downtown, which would allow the city to impose a higher tax rate on these lots.
“we are happy the conversation is starting,” said miller. “it’s a huge step, because we are acknowledging we have a problem.”
wendy miller, executive director of the heritage community association, stands for a portrait inside the hca offices on tuesday, feb. 4, 2025 in regina.
kayle neis
/
regina leader-post
‘stop making it agreeable to do nothing’
the idea was first proposed by former city councillor andrew stevens in the final months of his second term.
the philosophy is to financially incentivize landowners into choosing an active use for the land, like housing or office space — to encourage development over deterioration.
“ultimately what it’s about is to stop making it so agreeable to do nothing,” stevens said. “to make it costly to have housing fall apart and have land sit, while housing need soars.”
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attempts to deal with the city’s derelict property problem so far have not been successful and it’s time for the city to consider “a new tool in its tool box,” he added.
“the more you let a community rot, stay vacant, et cetera, the more it just costs everybody.”
last year, bylaw enforcement investigated 178 nuisance properties and 137 cases of unsecured properties, issuing 82 demolition orders.
the city does not keep a master list of known nuisance properties, but said “departments do co-ordinate to uphold community standards if properties are not compliant with city bylaws.”
the current bylaw includes fines for repeat offenders up to $7,500, but miller said the problem is that it’s complaint-driven instead of proactive.
“there’s got to be a bigger consequence at some point for not taking anything seriously,” said miller.
the potential is real, says expert
regina hasn’t yet parsed the details on what this new policy may look like, but stevens said edmonton’s strategy triples taxes on designated properties and has resulted in 300 properties converted into active housing since the city brought in the new bylaw in 2023.
vanessa mathews, an urban planning professor at the university of regina, agreed this could also work in regina.
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she said the strategy would be a breath of fresh air for the city’s languishing goals on housing intensification, complete core neighbourhoods and downtown activation.
the proposed taxation policy would fit into a mix of other ongoing city work, like regina’s $3.5-million deal with the federal housing accelerator fund and the north central revitalization initiative, she added.
“this is one of the first times that i feel like this actually has the potential to make the downtown more vibrant, more accessible, more inclusive — more of all the things that we’ve been trying to do over the last decade or two,” said mathews.
she’s not alone in her cautious optimism.
leah o’malley is a co-ordinator with white pony lodge, a volunteer safety patrol that walks north central picking up needles and offering community-based aid.
she’s lived in the area for 17 years and knows the rippling effects of these houses — petty crime, drug use, vandalism — are just as constant in north central as they are in heritage.
“if you live next to an empty house that’s being chronically broken into, or a slum house you’re always worried about burning down, you stop trusting,” she said, adding concerns over putting too much faith in one policy.
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o’malley hopes whatever policy is crafted will differentiate between a neglectful landowner and one who is simply waylaid by the permit process or break-ins. she also hopes the potential crack down doesn’t simply result in more empty lots.
empty lots still pose issues, notes miller, especially in neighbourhoods impacted by homelessness and encampments.
if the proposed policy works, o’malley said the impact on north central would be “absolutely huge,” affecting not only housing standards but also safety and neighbourhood unity.
“people want to see real results and so it’s a tough job on the city, because you have to weigh that with what can you do (but) from the community’s perspective, we are feeling uncared for,” said o’malley.
a boarded up home in the north central neighbourhood on tuesday, feb. 4, 2025 in regina.
kayle neis
/
regina leader-post
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