Property owners ordered to clean up destroyed home

A property owner on Buckhorn Lake Road has been given 30 days clean up a property that was damaged by a fire in October.

Last week the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors approved a remedial action order for 5960 Buckhorn Lake Road, located just south of Prince George.

"They have taken it down to ground level," district bylaw enforcement officer Michael Tillmann said. "There is still a hole in the ground, there is still a debris field around the house that needs to be cleaned up."

In his report to the board dated June 4, Tillmann said a fire in October destroyed the house on the property, leaving a burned out shell.

"Portions of the ground also collapsed at this time, leaving open holes into an underground structure that was located on the property. In addition, some of the outbuildings are in a state of disrepair and are collapsing," Tillmann wrote. 

"Complaints have been received from the public that the property is unsafe due to the fire damaged building and the collapsing ground. Since the fall of 2019, the Bylaw Enforcement Officer has been working with the landowner, and the landowner’s representatives, to demolish the damaged structures and fill in the holes. Some progress has been made but the work has not been fully completed."

The owner fenced the property in 2019, but bylaw officers inspecting the site have found portions of the fence missing on two different occasions, and the gate not properly secured on on occasion, Tillmann wrote.

If the homeowner fails to meet the deadline to clean up the property, the district will finish the necessary work and bill the homeowner. The cost of the cleanup is estimated at $20,000.

There was a history of complaints about unsightly conditions on the property in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015 and again in July 2019, Tillmann wrote.

"Most of these complaints were to do with unsightly conditions on the property, but the 2003 complaint also references an unsafe structure and a faulty sewage system, while the 2004 complaint mentions nuisance farm animals," he wrote. "In July 2019, the regional district received a complaint that the property was unsightly; it also mentioned an inadequate sewage system but this was not within the regional district’s authority to investigate so the complainant was directed to contact Northern Health regarding that matter."

In a letter to the regional district dated Dec. 19, the property owners said they were trying to clean up the property themselves, and intended to have the work completed in the spring once the weather improved.