A number of derelict properties in Windsor’s west end are set to meet the wrecking ball in the coming months. Over the past two weeks, emergency demolition and safety orders have been issued for 16 properties, according to Frazier Fathers, the representative for Windsor’s Ward 2. The properties stretch across Bloomfield Road, Edison Street, Felix Avenue, Indian Road, and Mill Street. “If you walk next to them or go behind the fence, there’s loose beams, roofs that are in parts, collapsed… so there is a public safety risk,” Fathers told CTV News. The homes are owned by the Canadian Transit Company (CTC), which has been involved in a lengthy legal dispute with the city over bridge developments in the area. The orders have a timeline for the owner to comply this month, but Fathers noted some minor extensions may be given due to the “scattered nature” of the orders. Processes are in place to mitigate injuries to animals and ensure people are not living in the homes. Fathers said the properties were purchased decades ago as part of plans to expand Ambassador Bridge activity, but the city retains the authority to decide when the properties can be demolished. Had the city allowed the properties to be torn down at the time, Fathers said it could have encouraged the owner to purchase more properties in the neighbourhood. “At any point in time, they could have sold off these properties. They could have repaired these homes and put them back on the housing market,” Fathers said. “They could have done those things. They’ve chosen not to, and we’re at a point for these 16 homes where they need to come down.” He believes the eyesore properties have created a false perception of the neighbourhood, and the demolition is a step in the right direction. “So, they put the demolition hold on this whole area, and that is what has led to this tension of demolition through neglect,” Fathers said. The demolition will not be the end of the multi-decade saga because the CTC will remain the owner of the properties. The company still owns other boarded-up homes in the neighbourhood, which have not yet been approved for demolition. Eventually, Fathers hopes to see the land once again used for a residential development but added, when it comes to the CTC, “the ball’s in their court.” According to Fathers, the properties with demolition orders are as follows:
