Montreal passes bylaw cracking down on owners who let empty buildings become derelict

Montreal's city council passed an update to a bylaw Tuesday that aims to further crack down on property owners who let buildings sit abandoned and unused for a year or more. 

The city says there are about 800 derelict buildings in Montreal, including some of heritage value.

The bylaw modifications, which will come into effect in the coming days, establish standards and measures for the maintenance and occupation of buildings in Montreal to prevent deterioration and protect them from the elements. 

Owners will be expected to do basic maintenance so as to preserve structural integrity and keep components, such as plumbing, in good condition. Owners will have to keep the interior heated to 10 degrees and register buildings if they're unused for one year.

Failure to comply could result in fines.

Individuals could face $1,000 to $10,000 for a first offence and up to $20,000 for subsequent offences. Corporations may be hit with as much as $40,000 for subsequent offences.

However, owners of heritage buildings could face much steeper fines, starting at $2,000 for individuals and going as high as $250,000 for corporations.

The stricter bylaw is good news as far as Heritage Montréal is concerned. The non-profit organization is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the city's architectural, historic and cultural heritage.

"A building that is not maintained while it's vacant will degrade even faster," said Taïka Baillargeon, the organization's assistant policy director.

Her organization has been pushing for a stricter bylaw for many years, she said. There was already one in place, but it was weak, she added.

Trying to renovate, restore or use a building that has been left to deteriorate can become astronomically expensive, she explained. That means a neglected building may never get the needed attention because it's just too expensive to fix.

"The neighbourhood will be affected by that and the value of the neighbouring buildings also," said Baillargeon. "It does affect so many levels of the city we live in."

There's no question that abandoned buildings affect the value of surrounding properties, according to Ünsal Özdilek, a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) who specializes in real estate.

"Buildings in bad condition, they are undervalued and they affect the value of surrounding properties," he said.

Robert Beaudry, the executive committee member responsible for urban planning, said the new bylaw upgrade will give "new tools to the inspectors to be more efficient in the field."

The city's Official Opposition party, Ensemble Montréal, supports the bylaw modifications but has some questions.

There are concerns about helping people experiencing homelessness who move into abandoned spaces that are heated during the winter, the party says in a statement. The party wants to see support not only for the squatters, but also the building owners who may be forced to deal with people living in these unused but warm spaces.

There are only 120 building inspectors in the city, the statement also says, and more will be needed to enforce the regulations.

The opposition also wants clear answers on the cost of registering vacant buildings because too high of a cost may deter people from registering at all.

'We cannot make miracles to repair it'

Sergakis Holdings owns more than 100 Montreal properties, and the president said the city should do more to help renovate old buildings.

Buildings affected by fire or the elements are expensive to renovate, said Peter Sergakis.

"We cannot make miracles to repair it," he said, though he understands the community's frustration when a property owner isn't doing anything to fix an abandoned building.

"But you cannot penalize the good landlord who is trying to do his best to save the heritage."

Eeven if the owner wants to fix up a property, there is a lengthy process of negotiations for the needed permits, he added.

Because landlords are facing those bureaucratic delays, it's unfair to fine building owners for being stuck in a long approval process, Sergakis said.

"Speed up the process so the landlords don't get penalized and wait years," he said.