Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / The back yard of a home on Williams Street near Chilliwack Secondary Second. The condition of this home has prompted a complaint to the bylaw department of the City of Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Derelict home in Chilliwack

Derelict conditions at Williams Street home prompt complaint to City of Chilliwack

Feb 28, 2024 | 9:31 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack resident Debbie Walker reckons a boarded up home on Williams Street with visible garbage in the driveway and an extensive mess in the back yard deserves scrutiny from bylaw staff at the City of Chilliwack.

Walker, who lives in close proximity to the home in the 9500 block of Williams Street near Chilliwack Secondary School, wonders why it takes a complaint to city bylaw before anything gets done about these types of residences.

“Why does someone need to complain when it is clearly obvious that there is a health hazard, risk of fire (maybe the owners would like that), and certainly we know the likelihood of rats exist, which is yet another risk/health factor,” Walker wrote in an email to Fraser Valley Today.”

A Fraser Valley Today reporter visited the Williams Street home on Thursday afternoon, February 22 and witnessed piles of garbage in the back yard, debris in the driveway and plywood across two windows and the front door.

Walker says students walking to nearby Chilliwack Secondary and Chilliwack Middle School can easily access that yard, and figures teenagers might be interested in investigating an area that is clearly unprotected. She suspects there’s been nefarious activity around the home due to the amount of individuals frequenting the area, and noise emanating from the property, at all hours of the night.

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“The risk of needles is inherent with such a location as this,” Walker said. “Are people living in that house? It clearly should be condemned. The city has to condemn them and I don’t see any signage pertaining to that.”

The house on Williams Street decreased in value year over year. BC Assessment valued the home at $782,000 for its 2023 assessment. However, the home is now assessed for only $81,000 for 2024. The land is assessed at $0.

The home was sold on July 22, 2021 for $820,000, according to publicly available records on the BC Assessment website.

Liana Wiebe, communications manager for the city of Chilliwack, confirmed in an email to Fraser Valley Today that a complaint has been received by city staff.

“Bylaw Enforcement received a complaint last week regarding the large accumulation of garbage and debris, as well as the structures being insecure,” Wiebe said Friday, Feb. 23. “Bylaw Enforcement immediately contacted the property owner and will continue with enforcement action as needed until the property is brought into compliance.”

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / Visible garbage as seen from the sidewalk in front of the Williams Street home on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 22.

While Walker welcomes the initial action taken by the city to mitigate the mess on Williams Street, she recommends the formation of a task force that will address these types of homes around Chilliwack.

“I suggest that they start a task force and tour the city for these types of homes and get the owners into compliance,” Walker said. “With the impending property tax increase (7.3 per cent), the City should be protecting the property owners and their families who live and/or work in the community. No one should have to walk to school and pass by this major atrocity.”

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / The front of the home on Williams Street was boarded up as of Thursday, Feb. 22.

Walker says the RCMP do not communicate with the home owners if one or all of the tenants at a home end up getting charged, or simply arrested.

“If the province can implement a new building process to address our lack of housing virtually overnight, it should not take too long to implement the above idea,” Walker said. “The RCMP and/or City should be able to do that so that the owner can evict them accordingly.”