Nuisance properties have some Reginans feeling neglected

A bungalow sits on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Retallack Street in Regina's North Central neighbourhood. Plywood covers most of its windows. The mudroom roof is starting to cave in. The grass is unkempt, with two thin trees growing up from under the front steps.

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens participated in a ride-along through his jurisdiction with members of the City of Regina's bylaw enforcement department last month. The officers brought him to this house.

"I asked [bylaw] what would be the best property to stand in front of, and they showcased this one," Stevens told CBC News during an interview outside the house.

"This house and many others might have been a nuisance for the community by every measure for months or years. Sadly, we're at a point where people would rather see houses demolished than have them turn into blight and nuisance properties that negatively affect the entire block."

The city's community standards bylaw lays out rules around how property owners must maintain their land and tenements, to create safe and attractive neighbourhoods. The bylaw tackles overgrown grass, placarded buildings and junked vehicles — among other things — and penalizes those who don't abide by those standards.

Derelict properties, referred to in the bylaw as nuisances, are an ongoing issue.

Experts say these properties, which in Regina are disproportionately located in neighbourhoods like North Central and Heritage, create unsafe environments and bring down property values. Residents, meanwhile, feel neglected and believe these properties perpetuate stigmas about their neighbourhoods.

The city has made strides in recent years toward giving bylaw enforcement greater sway and demolishing such properties.

But getting rid of these properties — and replacing them — is easier said than done.

Leah O'Malley and two other volunteers walked their weekly beat on a rainy Friday evening, picking up needles in back alleys in the city's north end and offering sandwiches, snacks and ponchos to people on the street who need them.

The trio passes multiple boarded-up, burned and abandoned buildings on their route. This time, O'Malley noted one that appeared newly occupied.

"This community has a problem with abandoned houses," said O'Malley, board chair of White Pony Lodge, a non-profit based in the neighbourhood.

As of April, there were 146 boarded-up properties in North Central and 41 in Heritage, according to Desirae Bernreuther, a spokesperson with the City of Regina. In June 2022, there were 169 boarded-up properties in North Central and 39 in Heritage, Bernreuther said.

The community standards bylaw defines a nuisance as a "property, structure, thing or activity" that may or does negatively affect the "safety, health or welfare" of the neighbourhood or its residents.