Red Deer looking to clean up derelict businesses

Red Deer City Council is looking at options to deal with a number of empty, rundown buildings in the city’s core.

A motion in front of council drew unanimous support after a number of former businesses were identified as problem sites.

“When we have vacant properties or derelict properties those properties have a cost to the community,”  Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer said. “The taxpayer needs to, in some respects, deal with safety issues that flow out of those sites.”

“We are also missing opportunities if there were legitimate types of development there,” she added.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are also missing opportunities if there were legitimate types of development there," she added.

Administration will look at a number of options, including what changes to bylaws could be made, what RCMP and other enforcement can do and what changes will be made in the Municipal Government Act.

READ MORE: Alberta introduces changes to Municipal Government Act

“Currently, the City of Red Deer and most municipalities can’t split out mill rates,” said Veer, who added that is something that many municipalities have asked to be changed in the act.

“We can’t offer incentives to incent development and we can’t offer disincentives for problematic areas or sites that are boarded up or graffitied or vacant,” she said.

One example given to council was a building at 49 Avenue and 52 Street.

The structure’s parking lot has been blocked off, the windows are boarded up and weeds and litter are scattered throughout the site. Full trees are growing in the middle of the lot.

Tim Tobias has lived in Red Deer for the past 30 years. He told Global News the building next to Gaetz Avenue, a major roadway, has sat empty since he’s been a resident.

“This is definitely not historical. (It’s) historical crap,” Tobias said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is definitely not historical. (It's) historical crap," Tobias said.

Less than a block away, a former Hertz rental building and repair shop also sits vacant, next to a strip mall filled with local businesses.

Business owner and body builder Francesco Persechino told Global News he chooses to walk the long way around the building because of the people the area attracts. His supplement and tanning business also closes early during the winter months because he doesn’t feel it’s safe to stay open when it’s dark.

“People don’t really want to come around when they see stuff like that across the street,” he told Global News. “It’s a dark, dingy spot that’s easy for them to hang out there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "People don't really want to come around when they see stuff like that across the street," he told Global News. "It's a dark, dingy spot that's easy for them to hang out there."

Veer said administration will now look at all possible options and bring them back before council in the near future.