The owner of a residence on Nelson Street in Wallaceburg was delivered a notice by the Municipality on Wednesday, as a torched Ford Mustang sits in the driveway.
Erin Merritt, the bylaw enforcement officer in Chatham-Kent, said a derelict vehicle notice was sent to the property owner today (Aug. 5) requesting that the vehicle be removed by August 19.
“After such date, I will be re-inspecting and if that vehicle is still there, will tender out the work of removing it from the property,” Merritt told the Sydenham Current. “Such costs will then be placed on the tax roll.”
The bylaw states that the Municipality has to give 14 days notice.
Local banker Travis Hooper expressed his frustrations about the vehicle in an e-mail sent out on Wednesday morning.
“I am saddened that for over a week now a burnt out car still remains in a driveway on Nelson St. at an abandoned home that just got its grass cut after weeks of an overgrown yard,” Hooper said.
“Not only is this an eyesore for local business’, the neighbors that surround it and every car that drives by on the busy street, but a major safety issue and liability for everyone around.”
Hooper added: “Given that WAMBO is this weekend and as usual we will be greeting thousands of tourists coming in for the amazing annual event, does it not make sense that we would want to lead with a positive image. This is our one major opportunity to showcase our great community and not leave the impression that the burnt out car will leave.”
WAMBO chair Bill Wolsing chimed in as well, with similar feelings.
“It is heartbreaking to see things like this in some areas and not being enforced,” Wolsing said.
“The burnt out car on Nelson St. is an out of area landlord, like most cases property care is out the window, they don’t care if they don’t have to look at it. I see it around my own neighborhood with plenty of local landlords who wouldn’t tolerate looking at it everyday if it was in their neighborhood.”
Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor said it is very difficult when dealing with delinquent property owners.
“Our by-laws require that notice be given to the owners with allotted period of time to correct situations prior to the municipality acting,” she wrote in an e-mail.
“I would like to say that I wish that the neglectful landlords, residents or tenants ‎would take more pride in our community. As much as it is easy to blame the Municipality for all that we see wrong within our community, it is bigger than that and it will take our community to come together and work toward goals that we want achieved.”
McGregor said forming a volunteer group to identify these type of problems in the community could be the way to go.
“In some of the other Chatham-Kent communities they have formed some well run positive community action groups that work with the Municipality, service groups and volunteers to identify, organize and implement change,” McGregor said.
Merritt said she works with similar types of groups in Shrewsbury and Bothwell, who provide a list of troubling properties each year in those communities.
As for the burnt out car on Nelson Street, details about what happened to the vehicle are not known at this time.
We’ll provide more information when it becomes available.
Here are some photos of the car:
If you do not wish to look at this burnt out car, buy a tarp & cover it, until it is removed. There are plenty of eyesores in Wallaceburg, such as many vacant plants & businesses