{"id":40174,"date":"2021-02-15T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T23:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=40174"},"modified":"2021-02-18T19:03:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T00:03:21","slug":"tenants-gone-from-131-main-after-court-order-to-evict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/tenants-gone-from-131-main-after-court-order-to-evict\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenants gone from 131 Main after court order to evict"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hear this story as reported on\u00a0Tantramar Report<\/a>:<\/p>\n\nhttps:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/131-Main-Update-Feb-15-2021.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

The people evicted from a historic mansion at 131 Main Street this month have found alternate accommodations.<\/p>\n

Tenants were told they would be evicted, through no fault of their own, in mid January, and they had until Friday, February 12 to be out of the building.<\/p>\n

The Town of Sackville took owners Gordon and Barbara Beal to court over a zoning infraction discovered in the summer of 2020. In addition to improper zoning, the apartments in the building had numerous safety issues, found after an inspection by the Southeast Regional Service Commission.<\/p>\n

Kathy Beal, daughter of owner Gordon Beal, who preferred not to comment himself, says that she had heard back from all but two tenants, and is confident they too have found new accommodations.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few are moving into res, a few found other accommodations,\u201d says Beal. \u201cI found accommodations for a couple of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just unfortunate,\u201d says Beal. \u201cIt was a zoning issue that just messed everything up. Landlord be warned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beal says that up until the town took her parents to court, she believed that apartments were permitted in the historic building at 131 Main, known as Joseph F. Allison House, according to\u00a0historicplaces.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And in fact, Beal is still under the impression that the second floor apartments, which predate renovations made this summer to add new apartments, are still permitted. But she won\u2019t be renting them anytime soon, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna rock the boat this year,\u201d says Beal. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens moving forward. My dad\u2019s not sure what he wants to do, whether, he wants to apply for a new zoning, or whether we might just even sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beal says her father is in his mid-80s, and that could be a factor. \u201cI don\u2019t think he can be bothered with the whole thing anymore,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The Beals applied for a change in zoning back in 2014, when they proposed building an apartment building behind Allison House. The lot backs on to a field which is used by Mount Allison University, near the Waterfowl Park. The proposed building was designed to match the architecture of Allison House, but the rezoning required to build it was rejected by Sackville town council at final reading.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
The property at 131 Main Street outlined in red. Screenshot from Service New Brunswick Property Assessment Online (E Butler Feb 16, 2021)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The property was in the news again last May, when Gordon Beal cut down a small forest on the property, where the proposed building would have been built.\u00a0He told Warktimes<\/a>\u00a0that clearing the area was an effort to show the size of the property. \u201cIt shows how much land I\u2019ve got back there,\u201d he said in May. \u201cI should be able to do something there, I would think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planner Lori Bickford says a complaint came in to her office this summer about renovations happening at 131 Main Street, without a building permit. That complaint led to an inspection, the discovery of the zoning infraction and safety issues, and the town issuing an order in August. After the Beals failed to comply, the town took them to court.<\/p>\n

This is the first formal complaint on file for the property, says Bickford, despite the fact that 131 Main Street appears to have been in violation of its zoning for years.<\/p>\n

The lot is zoned Residential Historic Commercial, which allows for a number of uses including boarding houses, restaurants, professional offices and funeral homes, but not apartments.<\/p>\n

Regardless, apartments have existed in the building since at least 2015, and were even there when Bickford\u2019s office, the Southeast Regional Service Commission, were tenants in the building.<\/p>\n

The commission had its office at 131 Main Street until 2018, when it moved to its currently location, says Bickford.<\/p>\n

STUDENTS FIND COURT ORDER REASONABLE, MOSTLY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kathy Beal didn\u2019t say if she felt the court order, which included requiring her parents to cover moving expenses and any rental costs exceeding their current leases, was fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to contest anything,\u201d says Beal. \u201cIt was an unfortunate incident. And, hopefully, everybody can move forward, and won\u2019t scrutinize me too much from here on in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney Thorburn, VP External with the Mount Allison Students\u2019 Union, met with a group of students affected by the court order to move, and says most seemed okay with the decision of the court to have the Beals cover moving expenses and any additional rent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they were happy with that decision,\u201d says Thorburn, adding that there were still many questions regarding individual situations, such as those who decided to return home instead of continuing to rent.<\/p>\n

There were also some costs and inconveniences that weren\u2019t covered by the court\u2019s considerations, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some students had bought furniture, for example,\u201d says Thorburn. \u201cNow they\u2019re moving into residence where they don\u2019t need it, and are having a hard time selling it.\u201d<\/p>\n

NEW MASU HOUSING POLICY UNDER DEVELOPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thorburn says that MASU is putting the finishing touches on a new housing policy, which will give the Union more control about which landlords are able to advertise on the MASU housing directory.<\/p>\n

The new policy will give the MASU a system to track complaints from students regarding landlords, and the grounds to remove a landlord from its housing directory.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mount Allison Students\u2019 Union housing directory online, allows students to find off-campus accommodations in Sackville. Image: Screenshot Feb 16, 2021, Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With minor complaints, says Thorburn,\u201dwe may give them a warning or a strike. And then if problems persist, then we will take them off the directory,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if it\u2019s an immediate issue, something similar to this where student safety is at risk, then the MASU executive has the right to make the decision to pull their ads from our housing directory,\u201d says Thorburn, \u201cso at least they\u2019re not being promoted through the MASU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kathy Beal, for her part, is hoping that the evictions at 131 Main won\u2019t impact her reputation as a landlord.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rent to probably about 50 students,\u201d says Beal, \u201cand, I\u2019ve never had any issues with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an unfortunate incident,\u201d she says, \u201cand somewhat resolved anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

HEADING BACK TO COURT WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The matter will be back in court on Wednesday to resolve remaining issues, including required renovations to remove the possibility of use as apartments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hear this story as reported on\u00a0Tantramar Report:   The people evicted from a historic mansion at 131 Main Street this month have found alternate accommodations. Tenants were told they would be evicted, through no fault of their own, in mid January, and they had until Friday, February 12 to be out of the building. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":40172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,3265],"tags":[],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40174"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=40174"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=40174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}