07 Jul Vacant Building Registry By-law
On July 4, 2022, council unanimously passed the Vacant Building Registry By-law that will address the many issues the city has been dealing with when it comes to vacant properties. The by-law requires owners to register their vacant buildings, regularly monitor them to ensure they meet all property standards and building code requirements and report back to the city every two weeks. Owners of vacant buildings will also have to provide contact information for the property.
Owners with vacant properties will be required to pay a $350 one-time administrative fee and $850 annual registration fee to cover the staff resources for enhanced monitoring.
This means the city will be able to hire additional by-law enforcement staff . If a vacant building owner does not comply with the by-law they will be fined that will increase for each day the owners fail to comply.
We have seen in other cities that similar vacant by-laws have encouraged property owners to redevelop and revitalize vacant buildings to help improve housing and commercial building supply in the city.
I would like to say a very big thank you to City of St. Catharines staff for all their hard work to bring this to council.
Read more about the Vacant building tax on our city website at https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/news/vacant-building-registry.aspx
