City Negligence
The owner passed away last year, and people broke down his back fence soon after. His yard became a dump site, an open-air drug den, and a bonfire pit. Unsecured and open to trespassers. The house was looted and predictably burned to the ground. As you can see in the video, it nearly took out the neighbors house also. Imagine this had happened a few months ago when it was hot and dry, or during one of these freak wind storms we've been having lately...
I must have sent a dozen requests to the bylaw office, asking for help with the fence, and warning of the obvious fire hazard and the overall dangerous situation that was brewing. And I get it. This area is the hotspot for local crime. But the city sat on its hands for a year, saying they had to find next of kin first. Wouldn't they want to act on it even quicker? Like where do we draw the line?
A year of formal complaints, hazard reports, warnings about trespassing, fires, and open security risks resulted in absolutely zero preventative action. Stellar work, guys!
TRIGGER WARNING - KAREN ALERT!
Shush.
Under Section 328 of The Cities Act and Bylaw 8175, the city has the power to secure, board up, or fence off high-risk sites immediately to mitigate hazards to public safety. Every penny spent would have become a priority lien on the land, and would have been repaid the second the property sells.
Fencing and plywood would have cost a couple grand but delaying cost WAY more: Saskatoon Fire, Saskatoon Police, emergency response unit. A SaskEnergy crew to dig up and cap the gas line. SaskPower to drop the power lines from the house. A demolition team. A fire investigation unit. The city may be immune to its own inaction, but it took tens of thousands of (taxpayers) dollars to address a problem a few sheets of plywood and a fence could have prevented months ago. As for the value of the house itself, to be fair, I'm sure it would have needed a complete gutting for it to be lived in again, but still, all of this was completely predictable.
So i guess this is just a reminder to look out for your neighbors. City Hall appreciates the invitation, but respectfully declines.