The worst eyesore in town — the old hospital site on Queen Street — continues to generate headlines.
As SooToday reported this week, the company that owns the former General and Plummer sites has hired Winmar property restoration to board up the structures so nobody can sneak inside, as ordered by City Hall.
But that’s not the biggest news. The owner is also taking the city to court, arguing that Sault Ste. Marie’s building department is “exercising authority it does not have” by demanding the property have 24/7 security and $2-million worth of liability insurance.
In court documents obtained by SooToday, the owner — Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc. — argues that the bylaw giving rise to those orders is “vague, illegal and unenforceable.”
A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 20.
Mayor Matthew Shoemaker stopped by our SooToday studio this week for an in-depth conversation about his first six months in office. Asked about the old hospital, the mayor said City Hall is using “every tool available to us” to make things difficult for owners who do not comply with property standards bylaws.
“We want to make life expensive for people who are going to keep vacant properties, and that is Exhibit A of vacant properties in town,” Shoemaker said, referring to the former hospital sites. “We don't own it, we don't have a court order to be able to demolish it, the property owner is complying with his current order to board the place up — but there are ongoing violations there that our municipality is not tolerating.”
Should the city try to figure out a way to tear down the unsightly buildings, with the hope of one day recouping that money through a future development?
“If we get our hands on the building, I think it's a discussion we'd be willing to have,” Shoemaker said. “Of course, everything depends on what the price is, right? It’s something that we would need a cooperative vendor for, so we would need the current property owner to cooperate with us. We have not received that type of cooperation we would like on that particular building.”
You can watch the full video of the mayor’s interview HERE.