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The Balmoral Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 9, 2017.BEN NELMS/The Globe and Mail

Charges laid two years ago against the owners of the Balmoral Hotel Ltd. for multiple bylaw violations, including fire-related infractions, highlight some of the challenges Vancouver faces in cracking down on problem landlords.

After years of escalating problems, the city in June ordered the 176-room hotel, a single-room occupancy building (SRO), be vacated because of "imminent danger" to residents, including structural and fire concerns. Last month, the city filed 60 charges against Balmoral Hotel, controlled by the Sahota family, alleging violations of the city's standards of maintenance bylaw. The outcome of those charges has yet to be determined. The Sahotas have declined to comment on the charges.

Court records show Balmoral Hotel was found guilty on seven fire-related charges, including "fail[ing] to provide portable extinguishers" and "egress obstructed or in need of repair" in 2015. Another 20 charges were withdrawn, according to the British Columbia Supreme Court registry. Each of the seven guilty convictions came with a $1,000 fine, according to court records. The maximum fine under the fire bylaw is $10,000.

Kaye Krishna, the city's general manager of development, buildings and licensing, said in an interview last week she couldn't speak to the specifics about the 2015 charges, which were brought by the city's fire department.

In general, however, she said it is relatively rare to see maximum fines for bylaw infractions and more common to see negotiations between counsel – for the city prosecutor's office and defendants – resulting in a compromise focused on addressing the infractions.

"What we have found, particularly with the more entrenched, difficult SRO owners, is a big fine is not always the best answer and doesn't always get the right outcome," Ms. Krishna said.

"There's flexibility in each case – and it's not a one-size-fits-all maximum," she said.

The fire department seeks to have charges laid by the city prosecutor only after other enforcement methods have been tried and failed, said Ray Bryant, assistant fire chief with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services. Negotiations between the prosecutor and defence counsel can result in some charges being dropped or withdrawn.

"There's some horse-trading – we can drop this [charge] if you repair this," Mr. Bryant said.

Such negotiations might revolve around the quality and reliability of evidence, such as photographs, or owners' attempts to fix problems.

In the Balmoral, for instance, obtaining a conviction for a failure to have working smoke alarms was nearly impossible, as alarms were repeatedly damaged or stolen. So the city pressed instead to ensure sprinklers and fire alarms were in working order, or "prioritizing life," as Mr. Bryant put it.

Mr. Bryant considers the prosecution a success, because it resulted in life-threatening problems being addressed.

But he's not surprised the building was subsequently found unsafe, citing the building's age – it's more than 100 years old – and structural concerns resulting from long-term water damage. "That building has not been repaired properly throughout its history."

The city considers single-room occupancy hotels housing of last resort for low-income people and has taken various measures to try to protect them from redevelopment, including a single-room accommodation bylaw that includes a fine for taking a room out of the city's stock of SRO rooms.

But the city has also struggled with private owners who fail to maintain or repair SRO hotels such as the Balmoral. Sometimes, faced with potential hefty fines, owners would do rushed, shoddy repair work using unqualified contractors, compounding problems identified by fire or building inspectors.

Under the standards and maintenance bylaw, which deals with matters such as doors, windows and fire escapes that are critical for people living in a building, the city can do necessary repairs and bill the owners. Housing and community advocates have called on the city to use that strategy to fix run-down SRO buildings.

The city is wary of doing that, because of cost and liability concerns that could come in fixing up a building that has been neglected, in some cases for decades.

"It's not just fixing the toilets – it's a huge investment, it's a huge liability. We don't think the city wants to be in position of being liable for the high risk the owners have placed the building in," Ms. Krishna said.

The city is instead pursuing various avenues, including bylaw charges, to get owners to bring buildings into line, she added. "We think it's important to hold the Sahotas accountable and continue to move forward with these charges."

Before the city ordered its tenants to leave, the Balmoral was part of a shrinking pool of low-income housing.

According to a April update from the city, 156 buildings – accounting for about 7,200 rooms – comprise the city's total stock of SROs.

Nearly half of those buildings – 43 per cent – are privately owned and operated. In those buildings, rents have increase by an average 32 per cent since 2007 and the lack of security and displacement of tenants is a "key driver of homelessness," the report said.

The city's bylaw fee was hiked from $15,000 to $125,000 in 2015, reflecting concerns that low-income people were being squeezed out as SRO hotels were sold or renovated.

The Balmoral is subject to the single-room accommodation bylaw, meaning any new owner would have to keep it as an SRO or pay $125,000 per room to convert it.

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she felt the time was right to stand down as leader of the Liberal party. Clark says she doesn’t know what her next career move will be, but adds she is not considering a job in politics.

The Canadian Press

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