This vacant building on Broadway in Corner Brook, which used to be a bar, caught fire Tuesday. A downtown business owner believes something should be done about unoccupied buildings in the city.
Now, Parsons wants council to do something about all the other vacant commerical buildings in the city, which he says deters new businesses from coming to the area.
“They’re eyesores but they’re also safety hazards,” he said. “They’re really detracting from the downtown as a place to do busines.”
On Tuesday, more people began talking about the issue of vacant buildings in commercial districts, after a small fire at a former nightclub, called The Studio, on Broadway Street, near Swirsky’s.
Parsons wonders what kind of condition some of the city’s vacant buildings are in, and if firefighters are being put into extra danger when they are forced to enter.
He says the city should start a registry of vacant buildings, and charge a fee, rather than regular property tax, to those who keep buildings empty.
The business owner notes that some cities in Canada charges a vacant building fee that escalates the longer the building is unused. Parsons also says the current property tax system, connected to property values, only discourages people from renovating and improving their properties.
“We’ve got a tax system that penalizes you for improving your property,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Heather Wellman of the Downtown Business Association echoed the same concerns over the issue of vacant buildings in commercial areas.
“From our standpoint, vacant buildings and dilapidated buildings have a negative effect on the area as a whole, and businesses that are in close proximity to them,” said Wellman.
Corner Brook Deputy Mayor, Bernd Staeben said the current bylaws don’t allow for the city to penalize property owners for having vacant buildings, as long as they pay their property taxes.
However, says Staeben, the issue of vacant commercial buildings has been on on council’s radar for the past few years. Staeben, like many others in the city, want to see commerical buildings upkept and occupied.
