WHEN A BLOCK OF BUSINESSES ON TORONTO’S QUEEN STREET burned down this past February 20 (Firegeezer report HERE), they lost more than their property and livlihoods. Now the city is charging them for “demolition” costs even though the fire had already demolished the buildings.
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CNS
One of the hardest hit is the owner of Duke’s Cycle Shop. The business had been owned by the same family and in the same location for over 90 years when the fire began in another building. Gary Duke, the grandson of the founder, figures his loss at $250,000 plus a major increase in his property tax bill because it will become a “new” building, thus appraised more.
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City News
Just to make things worse, he has just received two bills from the city. One is in the amount of $48,348.94, sent to his family about three weeks ago and was to “cover costs incurred for heavy equipment, engineering and environmental services required for demolition during fire investigation.” A second bill was mailed to them for $16,123.20 to cover demolition.
Toronto is in the midst of a revitalization project in the Queen St. area, but crushing the building owners for these fees may put a damper on their plans.
The Toronto Star has the STORY.
The Globe and Mail has MORE.
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