Saint John connects vacant building challenge with affordable housing goals

Officials at Saint John City Hall say separate efforts to address vacant buildings and encourage affordable housing go hand-in-hand, and will be accelerated in 2023.

“So that before buildings get to that state of being vacant, derelict, and we have to demolish, we’re actually leveraging our compliance tools to get them repaired early on in the process,” says Jacqueline Hamilton, the city’s commissioner of growth and community services.

City councillors gave unanimous approval this week for two separate Growth and Community Services committee reports.

The first report recommends the city “aggressively pursue” a new tax on vacant buildings through the provincial government, along with a vacant building registry linked to the province’s property tax system.

The second report recommends moving forward with a new affordable housing grant to encourage development within the not-for-profit and the private sector.

Hamilton says council’s approval of both recommendations will help protect existing buildings for affordable housing opportunities.

“We’re also tackling it through our minimum standards program,” says Hamilton. “Which is aimed at non-owner occupied properties to ensure they’re kept up to proper safety standards for residents; so that we don’t lose these as an important part of our affordable housing supply.”

'A VACANT BUILDING IN A NEIGHBOURHOOD IS A DISASTER'

Saint John has been making progress in removing buildings from its running “watch list” of vacant properties, under its vacant and dilapidated building program.

There are about 145 vacant buildings on the city’s list right now, down from 220 in 2018.

The city says roughly 60 buildings are taken off the list each year, with about 65 per cent repaired and reoccupied and 35 per cent demolished.

“Most cities don’t even have a vacant and dilapidated building program because there simply isn’t the need for it,” says Saint John city councillor Brett Harris. “It’s no surprise, Saint John is Canada’s oldest city. It’s going to be something that we’re in different territory on, than other cities.”

Saint John previously led calls for the creation of provincial legislation giving municipalities more power to remove dilapidated buildings.

Hamilton says the request for a new provincial tax on vacant buildings would create an incentive for property owners to take action.

“And also, looking at mechanisms so we can introduce a permit program that allows us to track and cover the costs we provide on an annual basis to monitor dangerous and vacant buildings, whether it’s through our own building inspector teams or fire services,” says Hamilton. “We want to be able to recoup those costs.”

The city’s report cites models of vacant building taxes in Vancouver, B.C., and Windsor, Ont., along with vacant building registries in Winnipeg and Summerside, P.E.I.

The Saint John Fire Department visits vacant buildings for monitoring, as well as fire calls.

It will be exactly two years on Wednesday since a fire broke out inside a vacant building in uptown Saint John on Jan. 11, 2021. There were no injuries. Today, the building at the corner of Charlotte Street and St. James Street is still standing and still empty. The building’s front and back doors are boarded up and several windows are broken.

“If you live in a neighbourhood that has a vacant building it doesn’t make you feel secure, you don’t know what’s going on in there,” says Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon. “A vacant building in a neighbourhood is a disaster and we already recognize that.”

The city says a letter will be sent to the provincial government to make its request official for a new vacant building tax and registry.

In a written statement late Tuesday, the provincial government says the city’s request will be considered as part of ongoing local government reforms.

'THERE’S 1,500 PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HOUSING RIGHT NOW'

The city’s new Affordable Housing Grant program has different criteria for non-profit and private sector developers.

Eligible non-profit housing developers will receive $10,000 for each affordable unit up to a maximum of $200,000.

Eligible private sector developers will receive $8,000 for each affordable unit up to a maximum of $160,000.

The grant also provides $50,000 in bonus funds for affordable housing projects addressing accessibility, energy efficiency, or market gaps.

“We anticipate it could fund between 30 and 60 new affordable housing units in Saint John,” says Hamilton. “Certainly, the hope is that these projects would be up and running within a year's time-frame.”

The grant’s total fund of $800,000 came through the New Brunswick Regional Development Corporation, which received money through the federal government’s transit fund.

“There’s 1,500 people looking for housing right now,” says Harris, adding the grant will send a strong message to developers.

“This is the type of housing we want, to hit this group of people who do not have secure housing,” says Harris.

The city is accepting grant applications until Feb. 8.