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A landlord in West Broadway feels unfairly targeted by the city after receiving a notice ordering him to clean up an adjacent homeless encampment or expect to see remediation costs tacked on to his property taxes.
The City of Winnipeg sent AML Properties a compliance order to clear out debris from an encampment spilling out from beneath an elevated parking lot that backs onto the Assiniboine River behind 35 Balmoral St., south of Broadway.
“It basically said this is our property and we need to clean up the mess from the encampments, and if we don’t do it, the city will do it and they’ll put it on our tax bill,” said Marvin Sharp, CEO of the company.
“I was furious, because … the encampments are not my responsibility, it’s the city’s responsibility. In order to clean up the mess, you have to deal with the encampments. You just can’t sweep around them.”
The city has struggled with how to manage the treed riverside behind the Granite Curling Club and 35 Balmoral amid a worsening homelessness crisis and growing concerns from the public.
Last November, the city implemented a bylaw meant to address the latter, limiting where encampments can be set up. Enforcement began ramping up this spring.
A bulldozer removes a tent and debris from Mostyn Park in West Broadway on Nov. 27. Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St. can be seen in the background, behind the front-end-loader. (Travis Golby/CBC)
Advocates have criticized the bylaw and enforcement, suggesting they push vulnerable people living on the streets further away from supports in the core.
Under the revised bylaws, crews tore down an encampment between the curling club and 35 Balmoral late last year.
But a cycle persists, with encampments popping up again after the city dismantles them and attempts to connect people with housing and resources through community groups.
AML Properties owns the apartment block next door to the curling club on Balmoral, as well as the property that extends out behind it all the way to the river, said Sharp.
A trail of debris leads from beneath the 35 Balmoral parking lot to a treed area near the river featuring mattresses, tents and other materials that make up part of an encampment on Wednesday. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
He said about a year and a half ago, the city ordered the removal of the elevated parking lot behind the apartment complex.
Around that time, the company put up a double fence meant to block access to the underside of the lot, where unhoused people had been living, said Sharp.
“They just simply cut it [the fence] open and continued to live under there, and there are periodic fires in there,” he said.
“It’s quite dangerous, the fact that this thing could potentially fall down, particularly with the fires making it more unstable.”
Charred debris littering the fenced-off area beneath the parking lot. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
Area city Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said many of her constituents, from daycares to landlords, continue to voice concerns about nearby encampments.
“This is really nuts, when you’ve got an encampment process that is now charging people that … have seen a mattress dragged on to their private property,” but “when folks have been calling, no one’s answering,” said Rollins.
The Granite-area encampments have been a hot spot of “non-stop” complaints, says Rollins, with residents now worried they could be penalized for not cleaning up a mess they didn’t create.
A series of mattresses, tarps and other material form part of the encampment behind the apartment at 35 Balmoral St. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
“To now make a property owner responsible … therein lies the rub,” she said.
“They’re faulting the very business that has had to repair fences, repair their doors, have items stolen from it,” she said.
“The key question I think people should be asking: is this solving any of the underlying problem?”
‘The next day it will just be back’
In a statement, a city spokesperson said bylaw enforcement officers recently responded to a complaint about the apartment at 35 Balmoral.
They documented bylaw violations of “abandoned goods, furniture, and other materials at the rear of the property,” and an order to clean it up was sent to building management, the city said.
Sharp is appealing the city’s order to clean up the rear of the Balmoral Street apartment. (CBC)
Sharp said the city gave him a deadline of July 19. He’s been in touch with adjacent property managers and is appealing the order.
“Anybody can go and clean up this mess and the next day it will just be back,” he said. “What are you going to do with the people?… It’s a complex challenge.”
The city spokesperson said Winnipeggers concerned about anyone experiencing homelessness, or an encampment on public property, can report it to 311.
WATCH | Property manager upset with order to clean up encampment trash:
Winnipeg landlord ordered to clean up encampment mess
Winnipeg property manager Marvin Sharp is being told to clean up behind his building, but he says the giant mess isn’t his. Garbage and debris from encampments are littered around the apartment, and he says he shouldn’t be on the hook for the city’s responsibility.