Regina resident raises concerns about infill housing after damaged property

When Marg Varga moved into her Al Ritchie neighbourhood home 63 years ago, she never imagined what would go up next door.

“I wouldn’t have minded if they would have only built it about half past my house, but it’s all the way, it’s 50 feet,” Varga said.

Just next door to her, sandwiched between two single family dwellings stands a new duplex, which is still under construction.

“I used to get the sun through the window,” Varga explained. “It would brighten up my kitchen but now it’s all darkness.”

But it’s not just the size she has a problem with, it’s the damage that’s happened to her property in the process.

From a damaged front lawn and the removal of fencing, to a now slanting walkway, these are problems Varga said she’s been dealing with since October.

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“The blocks were slanting pretty well right away and then they just got worse and worse,” she said. “Then a little bit of rain came and well the blocks were about that far away from my foundation. I just go along the house, I don’t walk on the blocks because I’m afraid of falling.”

With winter here, the damage isn’t likely to be fixed until spring, but Varga said no one will give her answers as to if and when that will happen.

“When you have a crack along your house and it’s 45 below, that’s a lot of cold going through your walls,” she said.

Global News reached out to the developers, Sun City Homes, who said the matter is being looked into.

After looking into it, Sun City Homes reached out late Tuesday evening and said they’re committed to fixing the problem.

Councillor Andrew Stevens said damage to property is a civil matter. He also said guidelines set out by the city are just that and there are no bylaws in place when it comes to infill housing.

But Varga isn’t the only neighbour feeling frustrated.

“We’re caught in a place where we don’t have a channel to communicate when we have a problem or concerns,” Edward Robertson said. “If there’s changes to our property due to the development that’s happening, if there’s damage to our property we don’t really haven an outlet that we can reach out to.”

For now Varga is hoping to get some answers, so she can one day use her sidewalk and once again enjoy the house she raised her family in.

“I can’t do anything about it, the house is there and I’m not about to move,” she said. “Where will I go?”