You know going back a few years you never really saw this in the city. It seems over the last little while the city has really stepped back from enforcing property standards. Garbage strewn lawns, broken windows and missing doors.
The photo above was taken in the newest part of the city, in the annexed lands at the city’s south end, within spitting distance of the precious big box retail.
You should give 311 a call and let them know the address.
I lived on a nice street on the near east side not too many years ago and the guy next door had property that made that look like Buckingham Palace. Really nice people but their property was a disaster zone. And the home repairs they did would make Red Green blush. I was chatting with him in the driveway one day when the letter carrier handed him the notice from the city. He got busted. So did someone two doors down who was fit enough to carry cases of beer into the house but not to push a lawn mower. The guy next door did a nice job cleaning up but the other homeowner did not. The city came and did it for him and I assume billed for the job too. I’m still not sure who complained but there was one resident who was particularly vocal about it – she was sandwiched between the two pigstys and I can only imagine how annoying that must have been for her.
Anyway, thanks for the reminder Andrew – I better start cleaning up my own back yard before you show up with your camera here too!
At least this place is vacant, so it has an excuse.
Good on you, mate!
Windsor is an embarassment of bylaw riches, enforcement absent.
Or as the more cynical will say, everybody wants to build something, but no one wants to maintain…
May I recommend the perimeter of the Windsor Airport as your next Hall of Shame expose? Much talk of “gateways”, but weed-infested ditches, rusty chainlink fencing and a broken up roadway tell a “You Have Arrived” story of which we should all be ashamed.
BBS, 311and by-law is now useless to remove garbage. The alleyway behind my building is strewn with garbage (tires, old beds, couches, etc.) I’ve complained to 311 for the past two months and they said that the by-law was taken off the books and that by-law enforcement will no longer has the authority to order someone to clean up garbage. They sent me to city waste disposal and waste disposal said they’ll pick it up when they have time. It’s two months now nothing. And new furniture is being dumped in the alley. 311 won’t even give me a tracking number. Nothing. It’s ridiculous.
Suzanne> I would always wonder what visitors thought of Walker Road into the city when they got off the plane. But in Windsor’s defense, most route’s in from the airport in most cities, Europe included, are often not pretty. We put airports in the crappy part of town for a reason (or vs versa).
Hey Andrew,
I pass that house everyday on the way to work. As I passed today and took my everyday glance over at the awful sight I noticed that the doors have now been covered? Thought I’d let you know you didn’t state when the pic was taken but obviously someone must have said something. There is another house in as bad of shape a couple concessions down (the one that leads to the bend that turns into North Talbot) the wierd thing about this one is that at some point someone must have thought they were going to remodel the house because it has big new windows in the front – but thats about where the renovations ended….lol. In case you want to check it out its right before the overpass when you are heading south on the east side of the street.
Actually a small clarification on the airport. It was built on its current location back when there was really diddly there – just open fields, very much like Zalev’s and some other businesses on arteries south of Tecumseh road that predated residential developments we take for granted today.
In the case of Windsor airport, the bad neighbourhood came to it, not the other way around.
Complain to the 311 manager. They’re obligated to provide you with a tracking number. Their excuses are a lot of BS. Let them tell you what by-law was revoked.
Maybe the property has an excuse, but the property owner doesn’t. In my little town, our code enforcement officer has the most difficult time getting landlords to clean up their property. The city has at times taken non resident owners to court to make them clean up their mess.
As a city councilman, I don’t like dragging people into court, but sometimes one has to in order to protect the city as a whole. A property like that above could take down a neighborhood in a heartbeat.
Doug Shirk
Rock Island, WA
Very true, Doug. Who wants to buy a house on a street like that?
I used to work as a Municipal Enforcement OFficer in Northern Alberta, and property standards and nuisance or unsightly issues are one of the top complaints….I truly doubt any by-laws regarding property standards, garbage and nuisances has been removed…. whoever told you that was lying to you. Those by-laws are pretty much par for the course in any municipality.
Mike/Sammy, the law is off the books. Two years ago, someone dumped garbage against my building in the alley and a by-law officer came and gave me a 10 day notice to clean it up or else be fined. I repeatedly complained to the 311 that I was ordered by city by-law enforcement in the past to clean it up and had to clean it up at my expense. Yes, I spoke to the manager at 311 weeks ago. I’ve spoken to a bunch of different people there and they all told me the same thing and none of them would give me a tracking number because there is no law on the books. Believe me, I’ve called Waste Disposal and done everything. The law is off the books. The only thing the city can do now is put you on the waiting list and the city crew will come pick it up when they have time, but landowners will not be billed for it anymore because it was an illegal dump. This morning, after complaining for the past two months, the city picked up the couch and bed, but a bunch of old tires are still lying around the alley. It seems that very few people are complaining to their councilors to bring the laws back regarding dumping. And, don’t even get me started with graffitti. There’s an old warehouse at the corner of McDougall and Hanna (only one block from Kennedy High School) that has been completely covered by graffitti for the past two years. The city fined them for doing nothing. They have constantly asked for adjournments with the judge and their next trial date is in a few months. Do you know what the city solicitor told me? If the case doesn’t get adjourned again, they will have to pay a fine of $300. Only $300. What kind fo motivation is that after two years of looking at that “ugly” graffitti? 311 refered me to crime prevention, who referrred me to my city councilor. My city councilor couldn’t do anything else than refer me to other people in the city.
John> Indeed, the ugly came to the Airport in this case.
That’s the lovely thing about train travel — stations were built downtown and were magnificent, surrounded by the best parts of the city. Nothing beats entering a city via the train.
Plus, you can just walk off it and into the city.
High speed trains now!
David, your experience sounds a little different situation. In your case, someone dumped on your property and you are rightly angry that you are being saddled with the responsibility of cleaning it up. The by-law still exists though, you’re just getting the short end of the stick. It’s a rotten situation but what can anyone do? I used to get garbage dumped in what used to be a storage box on my back fence for garbage cans from the days when they did alley pickup in my area. I don’t know why people would go out of the way to dump their junk there, but I fired some drywall screws through a board over that box and put an end to that.
In the case of 311, I reported grafitti in my alley just this week and was received politely and given a reference number. The call taker forwarded the complaint to the police on my behalf as they are keeping track of these complaints and they will be sending out a crew to clean up the graffiti when time permits. I’m not sure if they’ll be cleaning up sooner or later but I won’t be holding my breath for the yellow truck. Next time I’m at the hardware store, some graffiti remover will be on the shopping list.
David – YIKES….that is kind of scary to think that a community like Windsor would write out thier garbage/nuisance by-laws…. factory towns tend to offend in this area quite a bit…..but now that I think of it I drove past a broken in 2 couch bed on Drouillard Road for almost 2 weeks it sat partially impeding traffic and I thought it would never move…..
i worked for the city of windsor’s public works dept for nearly 30years 22 of them on garbage in all that time i never heard of one citizen being fined for littering they used to have a rule that if your property had an alley behind it it was your responsibility to keep your piece of the alley clean i questioned my boss a number of times about this and his reply was we don’t like to step on people’s toes