Council receives on two vacant properties on Main Street

Work may continue soon on the property at the corner of 50th Avenue and 46th Street, after previous developments of a fast food restaurant stalled. 

While foundation work began at the property located at one of the busiest intersections in Bonnyville, behind the scenes issues stopped work, after it appeared a couple of years ago that a new building would stand up within the two-year permit window.  

A question about this property was raised about this by councillor Neil Langridge at the Tuesday, June 10, council meeting to administration. 

General Manager of Planning & Development, Dan Heney, said there is a new owner of the property, and they have inquired about getting new permits, in hopes of resuming the build of a fast-food restaurant. 

The previous permits had lapsed months ago. 

Community Standards Bylaw

The Town of Bonnyville recently enacted a new Community Standards Bylaw that gives administration more teeth to penalize property owners for derelict buildings, or not fulfilling the terms of their permit. 

It stemmed from council frustrations, and a want to have an attractive community, in the downtown area, and in residential areas too. 

“Not that we’re going to tell the owners what they have to do, but if they just decide to sit on a project, well, there’s some pressure we can bring to bear through fines,” Heney told Lakeland Connect. 

“And potentially later this year, when the annual Tax Bylaw is updated, as it’s done every year, there’s going to be some subclasses that are included in that bylaw.”

Those subclasses could see derelict property owners paying “substantially” more in taxes as an incentive to not let properties decay. 

The former Midtown Motor Inn was also raised by Langridge. 

Bridge to Care Inc. had purchased the property in 2022 with the intention of creating an assisted living facility. 

With that, came the necessary requirements for the provincial and national Building Code, which required a ton of work inside to comply. 

Heney said that in January, the property owners were told that their permits had expired. 

“They timed out their permit and that we expect them to remediate the property back to where it was. I would suggest there was a cone of silence – very little response,” Heney told council, adding that a final date of compliance was sent to the property owners. 

If they don’t, the Town will do the work to the outside of the building to restore it to its original state, as said in the permit, and bill the work to the property owner. 

The Town can’t go inside the property, but the outside. So holes that are unfilled, or security measures needed to keep the building secure in the meantime, could be part of that. 

“We’re going to use all the tools that are available to us, whether they be fine or punitive, tax implications or whatever they may be. We’re going to use what we can to help shepherd that project along,” Heney told Connect. 

The Town isn’t looking to be an enforcing agency, says Heney, but is looking to help shepherd these projects along.