Neighbours of 44 Park Hill Rd. say they're dismayed with the city for allowing squatters to take over a building that was slated for demolition and poised for redevelopment that could have helped transform the neighbourhood.
"I walk my daughter by there every single day to get to school and there is a lot of distracting I have to do so she doesn't see someone passed out on the front lawn or using drugs on the porch," said Cambridge resident Ravi Baboolal. "It becomes, to a certain extent, a safety issue."
Baboolal has two children and feels like he has to keep his head on a swivel when out for a walk with his kids for fear of someone approaching them.
"There has been increased crime in the area," he said. "Just last week someone stole a motorcycle out of my neighbour's backyard and started stripping it for parts in a nearby bush."
"Something has to get done, because I know some of my neighbours are ready to protect their property and families at all costs."
Baboolal said he's not the only one in the neighbourhood frustrated with the lack of support from the city and wonders how officials simply allow properties like this to become overrun with squatters.
Alana Russell, communications director for the city said since it's private property, there is not much the city can do about the situation.
"The city is actively looking to work with the property owner about concerns we have received from the public," wrote Russell in an email to CambridgeToday, urging neighbours to call 911 if they notice illegal activity or feel there's a safety concern.
The building was slated for demolition. The owner is proposing to build a 10-unit residential and commercial building on the property once the site is clear.
But last fall, the demolition permit that would have started the ball rolling was put on hold after the Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (MHAC) held an emergency meeting to save the 150-year-old building. They later urged council to agree to a notice of intention to designate the one-storey brick "workers' cottage" a heritage structure.
Council approved a staff recommendation to go ahead with the designation but not before hearing from planning consultant for the owner Scott Patterson, who told them that despite the owner's best efforts to secure the property, squatters had been getting inside to steal copper pipes, rip out wires, and use various rooms as "public washrooms" for months.
Patterson, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, insisted the building had little heritage value, and saving it from demolition was not in the developer's plans.
The property owner has since appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), aiming to strip away the designation and allow the demolition and redevelopment to proceed.
"That decision is going to come back to bite the city when they lose at the OLT and the owner just bulldozes the whole thing. Why would he want to work with the city after they held this up," Baboolal said.
Cambridge Ward 4 councillor Ross Earnshaw has heard the concerns from residents and said the property owner will still have to apply for a demolition permit with the city even if he wins at the OLT.
"Not all hope is lost with trying to preserve some of those features if the city loses at the OLT, but that is all hypothetical at this point," Earnshaw said. "I think it's fair to say that any collaboration has been severely compromised."
Earnshaw added there are two bylaw cases open on the property, but neither he nor the city would provide more details.
Earnshaw was one of the councillors opposed to designating the property, noting the path to keeping some of the building's important features could have been possible through an agreement.
"I had asked the developer to preserve the exterior features of the property that were what resulted in it being designated or considered for heritage designation. And they agreed to that," he said. "But the majority of the council went the other way."
Earnshaw is constantly being updated by residents who live nearby and are desperate to see something done.
People are mainly concerned about safety, he said, referencing the fire that took place in March.
"It's definitely a sore point with this citizenry and I hate to say this, but there is not a whole lot we can do other than keep an eye on it," he added.
"With it being private property, it heavily restricts what bylaw can do."
Bylaw and the Cambridge Fire Department declined to comment on the situation.
Another element of the issue that worries Earnshaw is the trouble that municipalities have had with evicting encampments and squatters.
He said it will be up to the property owner to fulfill any evictions that may occur or be required from property standards complaints from the city.
"The current focus on encampments and legal proceedings has been shown to cause an impediment to a more aggressive stance when removing individuals from a piece of land," Earnshaw said.
Baboolal said he and his neighbours expect the problem to get worse and they've completely lost faith in the city, police and regional officials to reduce their feelings of danger.
"I know us property owners are ready to take matters into our own hands and I just hope that it doesn't come to violence," Baboolal said.
