At first, Chantal Jordaan thought the sounds coming from next door must have been rats.
Sounds can travel easily through the walls of the attached homes on historic Gower Street in downtown St. John’s.
Those sounds came into sharp focus late last year when, Jordaan said, she heard a cough.
“It was so loud. And I thought, no, this is it,” Jordaan said in a recent interview.
“The police came and they walked in and they reported that there was evidence of squatters in the house.”
Jordaan and her neighbours say 87 Gower Street — and other vacant homes — pose major health and safety concerns. They’re calling on the city to be more aggressive in its approach to tackling problem properties.
For its part, the city says it’s limited in what it can do.
According to neighbours, 87 Gower Street used to be “the nicest house on the block” and was well-loved by its owner, who took pride in his home.
He died in 2015 and they say it has been vacant ever since. CBC News could not make contact with the current owner.
The city had put the house up for public auction in early 2024 over unpaid property taxes, but it was taken off the list before opening to bids, presumably because the taxes were paid.
Neighbour reports assault-in-progress
Jordaan said matters at the property reached a boiling point last month when she heard what she believed was an assault-in-progress between a man and a woman.
“She didn’t scream, she didn’t call for help, but there was this constant fairly raised voice saying, ‘Please don’t, please don’t.’”
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed to CBC News that officers were called around 5:30 a.m. NT on Jan. 23. No one answered the door.
Neighbours in downtown St. John’s want the city to tackle problem properties that have been left vacant or in disrepair. Ariana Kelland reports.
“Based on their concern for the safety and wellbeing of the people heard calling for help, officers gained entry to the home by forcing open the front door,” RNC spokesperson Const. Stephanie Myers said in an email.
Police say they found a 59-year-old man inside. He was arrested and charged with break and enter and carrying a concealed weapon. He is also facing charges related to two outstanding warrants.
There was no one else located inside the home at the time, the RNC said.
‘My fear is fire’
Jordaan complained to the City of St. John’s.
“There is a safety issue here that goes beyond one house or two houses, but generally to the area and maybe to all areas that have some historical value to the city,” she said.
The home at 87 Gower Street is not alone in its decrepit vacancy. On nearby Prescott Street, another property with its windows boarded up and electrical disconnected.
“My fear is fire,” said Claudette Morris, who lives several doors down from Jordaan.
Her message to the city is clear: “Do something … do something about this.”
“Maybe you can’t make people have their houses look exactly a certain way,” Morris said, “but you can make it so that it’s safe.”
40 vacant properties on city list
Mayor Danny Breen said city inspectors have a list of approximately 40 vacant properties. Though, Breen said, these are just the buildings inspectors are aware of.
Breen said he could not comment on 87 Gower Street in particular, but said there is no bylaw restricting properties from sitting vacant.
“The minimum property standard is basically that the property is secure,” Breen said in an interview on Monday.
Breen said once inspectors are aware of a problem property, they need to ask the homeowners for access. After an inspection is complete, the homeowner could be struck with a list of items that need to be fixed.
If that doesn’t happen, Breen said, the city can take them to court to force their hand.
However, the mayor said, a recent reduction in court services has hampered those efforts.
“Some of the issues of us having to go to court to enforce our rules upon property owners is frustrating to us and it slows down the process,” he said.
And even if a homeowner is fined, Breen said the $5,000 maximum penalty may not be enough to make a difference.
“One of the things we are looking at for a new City of St. John’s Act is to be able to increase that fine, because at $5,000, depending on the nature of the improvements that are needed, the fine is not that significant,” Breen said.
Chantal Jordaan would like to see a forced sale of the property, or higher fines to ensure her neighbouring property is kept safe and secure.
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