The Klein Horsman Carpet One building remains at the centre of a legal dispute regarding property standards after a fire partially destroyed the structure last weekend.
The Town of Newmarket has pressured the owners for several months, issuing an order in April requesting they either demolish the building or restore it. The town said it subsequently issued a demolition order June 29.
After a fire caused the building to be partially demolished in the early morning July 23, the town’s planning department said it is still seeking compliance on property standards issues.
"The Town of Newmarket cannot disclose any further information regarding the ongoing enforcement against the property owner at 435 Davis Dr. but will provide more information once we are able to do so,” the municipality said in a statement to NewmarketToday.
On April 14, the town issued an order that the building was unsafe and ordered the owner to secure the building area “from unauthorized entry of all persons with an appropriately constructed temporary barrier/fence of at least 1.8 metres in height,” or else the town would do so and charge the owner. This did not happen until after the fire that began July 22.
Police now say the fire was an arson caused by four youth.
The town had also ordered in April that the owner must file a demolition permit within two months or declare an intent to restore the building within a month, or else the town would proceed with demolition.
NewmarketToday did not receive a reply to a request for comment from the Klein Horsman family before publication deadline.
A Central York Fire Services incident report released today said the fire crew responded to the scene with six fire trucks and one command vehicle, with 24 firefighters and two chief officers. The fire was “deep-seated” and was battled defensively for several hours.
The fire service said the existing damage from the previous fire at the building in June 2022 meant additional measures were required to address “safety concerns given the building’s proximity to the sidewalk.”
“Heavy machinery was utilized to dismantle part of the building in an effort to fully extinguish the fire,” the report said, adding that contractor Priestly Demolition did that work.
Although the fire was severe, firefighters kept it from spreading nearby. Coldwell Banker vice-president of operations Dean Artenosi said the fire luckily did not impact their heritage Union Hotel building restoration project, right next to the Klein Horsman building.
“We have a good security system,” he said, adding of the alleged arson that “this act of vandalism is disturbing."
