'A motion that has some teeth': Summerside exploring tax hike on vacant properties

Summerside, P.E.I., is considering raising property taxes on vacant properties.

Councillor Brent Gallant, who plans to bring a motion before council at its next meeting, said the tax would force owners to either clean up empty and vacant buildings, sell them, or demolish them.

"It's time for action," said Gallant. "We've talked, we've looked, we've had meetings, we've had discussions, we've had proposals you know, and it's been all for not. So, now it's time to take more affirmative action and try to move these things along."

"They're eyesores, they're derelict, but if you leave a situation out long enough, then it gets broken down and broken into, then you're going to have trouble, you're going to have problems," he added.

Summerside Mayor Bill Martin is supportive of the tax idea.

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"The genesis of the idea, if you will, is the fact that we have property in the city that's been vacant for some time," said Martin.

"They are becoming eyesores. They need to get addressed and … somebody needs to be doing something about them."

"If raising taxes to a level accomplishes that, then I think it's a great idea," said Martin.

'If you want to do something about it, then sit down and talk'

There are two properties in particular the city is looking at.

The first is the former Holland College vocational school on Granville Street.

The owner of the property, Tim Banks, said he would welcome the opportunity to sit down the city to look at what could be developed on the site.

"We'd take any suggestion from them," Banks said.

"We'll sit down and meet with them, come up with any ideas, but just to shoot your mouth off and say you have to do something about it, well, if you want to do something about it, then sit down and talk to the people who can make it happen and give us some ideas because we've been in the business a long time and we just don't see any development opportunities in Summerside presently.

"We should all be working together and we should try to move forward, and we're quite prepared to sit down with council, any one of them individually. We're available, but to try to negotiate this thing in the media and to try to force something down a developer's throat, not really the way you go about things."

'Needs to be disposed of'

The second property is the Summerset Manor, also on Granville Street.

"[It's] a beautiful piece of property that just needs to be disposed of," said Martin.

"Summerset Manor is no longer in use by the government of Prince Edward Island and it is government's intention to dispose of this property," said Paul Biggar, Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy, in an email statement.

"As part of this process we held a request for proposals from parties interested in this property, but did not get any formal responses. We have recently had private developers express interest in this property and we are exploring whether there is a possibility of one of them acquiring it.

"Government is interested in selling this property and seeing it used in a way that brings benefit to the community."

In the meantime, Gallant said the time has come for the city to deal with properties once and for all.

'To deal with them'

"We can't bring back a motion that is too soft regarding this," Gallant said. "This has to be a motion that has some teeth. It has to have implications for those that are sitting on these derelict properties. It has to have enough of a push to cause people to deal with them."

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