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A house rotting away in Saskatoon’s Briarwood neighbourhood is cleared to be torn down by city crews.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice R.W. Elson ruled Friday afternoon there was no legal basis for him to issue an injunction against the home’s demolition.
The house’s owner, Yu Liu, had applied for the injunction to allow time for the house to be fixed and brought up to standard.
The city had deemed the home had to be demolished after finding the interior severely damaged by cold weather and water, resulting in rotting materials and black mould throughout.
However, after heavy equipment arrived at the house to prepare for the demolition — Liu came forward to prevent it.
After hearing arguments Friday morning, Justice Elson sided with city lawyers who suggested the court had no jurisdiction in the matter — due to bylaws enacted by the city to address dilapidated and abandoned properties within city limits.
A lawyer representing Liu had suggested there was “no urgency” to the need for demolition, and argued more time should be provided to allow for repairs — which a renovator estimated would cost about $20,000.
Despite ruling there was no legal basis for the injunction, Justice Elson’s written decision included a final paragraph that suggested the city to re-think an immediate removal of the home.
“It is my fervent hope that the City will hold off demolition until the applicant and (ScotiaBank) can determine, in a meaningful way, whether the residence is economically salvageable,” he wrote.
“In my view, the demolition of the home without such a determination would be very unfortunate.”
The city responded to Elson’s decision, saying even though they can proceed with demolition, they will hold off at this point.
“Demolition will depend on whether a plan can be formulated with the city to determine if the property can be remediated safely, legally and quickly,” the city said in an emailed statement.
They said if they do start the demolition process, surrounding residents will be provided notice before they begin.
Newly submitted documents adds to decision
Elson originally reserved his decision Friday until later in the day on the home, and whether the city can move forward on demolition.
Homeowner Yu Liu’s lawyer, Elke Churchman said they were willing to fix the abandoned home at 166 Beechdale Crescent. Churchman argued the city didn’t do enough to contact the homeowner, who ended up learning about the city’s plans to demolish “in the paper.”
City Solicitor Alan Rankine, said his team went “above and beyond,” in looking into finding Liu.
One new development in the case came Friday morning, when ScotiaBank lawyer David Gerecke submitted documents stating Liu still had $272,500 left on the existing mortgage.
Gereke said they didn’t want the home demolished, but would like to bring in a structural engineer and an air quality specialist to assess the home. They’d also like a full environmental assessment to be done to determine whether the home would be economically viable to fix.
Conditions on the mortgage may also be violated, including terms of maintaining the condition of the structure, Gereke stated.
Churchman asked for an injunction for a minimum of 30 days to do the needed repairs to bring the home back to it’s earlier conditions, which was dismissed. She said dropping temperatures could end up being a factor in the restoration.
—With files from 650 CKOM’s Brady Lang