Kelowna to consider bylaw amid 'increasing number' of police and fire calls for vacant buildings
CTV
City councillors in Kelowna will soon consider changes to a local bylaw aimed at addressing an increase in break-ins at vacant or fire-damaged properties in the city.
City councillors in Kelowna will soon consider changes to a local bylaw aimed at addressing an increase in break-ins at vacant or fire-damaged properties in the city.
Just four vacant properties in the city have generated 287 calls for service from police, firefighters and bylaw officers since 2019, according to a staff report headed to city council Monday.
"The (city) has been dealing with an increasing number of cases involving vacant or occupied homes damaged by fire or not secured appropriately to prevent unauthorized entry," the report reads. "Often, these properties are subject to multiple break-ins over an extended period utilizing a large amount of resources per property."
The staff report recommends the adoption of changes to the city's Fire and Life Safety Bylaw that would mandate increased security at vacant properties, with an escalating response prescribed based on the number of incidents at a given site.
The bylaw already gives the city's fire chief the authority to order a property owner to secure a vacant building to prevent unauthorized entry, according to the report, but it doesn't get into any specifics about what steps must be taken to make a building secure.
The proposed amendment would require that all openings in a vacant building must be secured by plywood and no trespassing signs must be posted within 24 hours of a building being identified as vacant.
"In the event the property owner cannot be contacted or does not secure the building as directed, the Fire Chief or designate shall have a contractor secure the property and the cost of the work carried out will be the responsibility of the property owner," the report reads.
