North Battleford council has upheld a demolition order for a garage located at 1502-103rd Street in the city.
However, at the same time council has also granted a 30-day extension to Oct. 25, to provide enough time for the owner to remove various items from inside the property before it is demolished.
The order stems from a 2015 fire on the property. A demolition order was issued on the residential house at the time and it was demolished.
The garage was part of that order, but it remained standing. According to a memo from City Planner Ryan Mackrell dated Sept, 14. the owner had asked the city if he could keep the garage over the winter to store items, and had agreed to remove the garage in 2016. But the garage was never removed, he stated.
Photos were provided to council of the current state of the building, which was deemed in derelict condition.
The appeal of the demolition order went before council Monday. At that meeting, the owner of the garage formally asked for a longer extension until May to allow him to dispose of the items still in the garage.
The owner also presented pictures of other buildings in his back alley that were in various states of disrepair, and asked “what prompted you to single me out.”
It was pointed out by Councillor Kelli Hawtin that properties all over the city were going to be looked at. She noted the “city organization is undertaking a real job to look at all derelict properties in the city.”
“This is an effort throughout the whole city,” added Mayor Ryan Bater.
The owner also told council he didn’t recall getting an order in 2015 to demolish the garage, but later in the meeting Mackrell produced a copy of the demolition order that specified the garage was to be demolished by the spring of 2016.
In the end, the sentiment on council was that it was time for the building to come down. Council upheld the demolition order, agreeing only to the 30-day extension to Oct. 25.
