501 Erie Street West

A while back Urbanrat sent me some photos of the slums at 501 Erie St. W.

He wrote:

A very concerned resident of the area bounded by Erie Street west, between Bruce Ave and Janette Ave, is very upset about this derelict property at 501 – 529 Erie Street West, a row of townhouses.

This citizen and other residents are very concerned about the state of the building, especially the back wall of some units. They have called the city, their councillors Jones and Postma to have some action taken towards the property, many a time!

The owner has it listed for a rental property but refuses to repair or demolish the building (thus losing revenue tax credit).
There has been reports of squatters, kids et al entering the building at night under the tarps, with neighbours seeing candles or flashlights on in the rooms.

He sent along the following photos:

When I got to this photo he took, of the City Issued order, I stopped, because the order was AN ORDER TO DEMOLISH THE BUILDING AND CLEAR THE SITE ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 1, 2008.

Seeing as it’s now October 3, I thought, I better make sure the place isn’t gone before I post these photos… So yesterday afternoon, I cruised on over to 501 Erie St. W.

Guess what?

The mess is still there… Unbelievable. For the amount of money we spend in taxes living in this city, someone should be embarrassed that this mess is still standing 63 days AFTER the deadline to demolish it. However, I guess if it’s not something sexy like a canal or a big new shiny arena, then it’s not high on the list of priorities for the City to deal with?

Where are Councillors Jones and Postma? Obviously, this isn’t in Sandwich, so Ron Jones will have no interest in looking after it… But where’s Postma? This is kind of her neighbourhood? Too busy with her own burned out rental properties? Nothing like looking after the people who elected you. What a mess Ward 2 is. 2010 isn’t coming quick enough.

Here are a few photos from yesterday afternoon.

I was blown, away to drive over there and to find this place still standing. Is it standard practice for a building to be standing a full two months after the deadline to demolish has passed? This place is a danger to the surrounding community.

Broken, boarded up windows…

Bricks falling off the back of the building… Yeah. I’m sure the neighbours feel much safer with that tarp in place.

The screen door is missing off one of the entrances, the window is missing from the one next to it…

Overgrowing plants, and yellowing, mouldering mail from who knows when in the mail boxes.

There’s that same order.

Based on the extent and nature of the defects the owner shall demolish this structure in its entirety and leave the site in a clear and level manner.

…

YOU ARE HEREBY REQUIRED, by this Order, to do the work required to repair the defects set forth in this Order and make the said property conform to the standards set forth in the said By-law ON OR BEFORE: AUGUST 1st, 2008

Click here to download a legible copy of the order.

Looking at the owner’s name it is listed as:

Philip Katz
c/o Walter Muroff
333 Riverside Dr. W.
Suite 218
Windsor, ON
N9A 7C5

A quick google turns up nothing on Katz, but Walter Muroff is a mortgage broker… http://www.waltermuroff.yp.ca/index.htm. But, oh look at this… http://www.fstontario.ca/english/decisions/mortgagebroker/M0280-2006-1.pdf… It just happens to be a a copy of the hearing of the Financial Services Tribunal against Walter Muroff & Co., Ltd.

Muroff was nailed for not filing his financial statements in a timely manner, for 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004, and had his registration suspended for nine months.

Talk about bad judgement! Either Larry Horwitz:

a. fielded a call from a slumlord who asked him to put some signs on the lawn of his dilapidated crap palace.

or

b. has volunteers who decided to put some signs down on private property without the owners permission… Tsk. Tsk.

or

c. maybe he’s just comfortable with vacant buildings, since that’s what a lot of downtown looks like.

Maybe Larry should call his “team” to go remove those signs. Probably not the best building to associate with.

So the ball is in your court City of Windsor… Why is this dangerous eyesore still standing? Ward 2 residents, call or email your councillor to ask why this building is still standing in direct violation of a City issued order.

Maybe A-Channel, CBC or the Windsor Star could pick up this story and run with it. If any readers have any contacts in the media, feel free to tip them off.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Urbanrat. Hopefully, the readers of this blog can help get some action taken on this issue.