An infamous property in the P-Patch neighbourhood now appears to be clear of garbage and debris following an uproar on social media.
On Tuesday, a concerned Sault Ste. Marie resident shared a photo on Facebook of a driveway teeming with piles of junk, eliciting more than 500 responses on the Keeping the Soo Safe group as of Wednesday afternoon.
“There are now rats crawling through the garbage in the driveway. Garbage is now blowing down the street from this address,” Errol Monchka said in the post.
“The city really needs to stop procrastinating and do something about this!”
A number of people shared the post with Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo, who replied to the post on Keeping the Soo Safe by advising the public that she was taking the “necessary steps to have the property tended to as soon as possible.”
“I am empathetic to the situation the neighbours are finding themselves in, and will continue to work to have this property brought to proper standards,” Caputo wrote.
Speaking with SooToday Wednesday, Caputo said that she personally reached out to the city’s Building Division and Bylaw Enforcement, in addition to Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Interim Chief Brent Duguay and the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society about the issues being brought forward to her by constituents.
Caputo wants to ensure that residents of the “family-oriented” P-Patch neighbourhood are able enjoy the use of their properties, and that reports of “garbage, rats and drugs are always concerning.”
“We want to see these areas being made safe,” Caputo said, adding that staff at the City of Sault Ste. Marie are “trying to do their best” to ensure public safety.
The property, located at 29 Pentagon Boulevard, appeared to be relatively clear of junk when SooToday checked it out on Wednesday.
That address is no doubt familiar to some readers: Last year, a pair of neighbours plagued by ongoing dysfunction at the same property was awarded more than half a million dollars in damages as the result of a decision handed down in court.
In her decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Annalisa Rasaiah was satisfied with evidence provided by Nick Delavalle and his common-law partner to demonstrate their next-door neighbour — along with numerous tenants, squatters and guests — routinely engaged in “illegal, illicit, disruptive, interfering and egregious conduct.”
The conduct on the P-Patch property apparently included drug use, assaults, gunshots, animal feces and incessant noise being made by people partying and barking dogs during all hours of the day and night, according to the claim.
The couple was also granted a court order, imploring the property owner to fence in their backyard, leash all animals and clean up garbage and debris on the property.
The Sheriff’s Office in Sault Ste. Marie was directed to enforce the order, with Sault Ste. Marie Police Service given authorization to assist the Sheriff in the enforcement of the court order — and to arrest anyone who contravenes it.
Delavalle, however, told SooToday on Wednesday that the court order has been totally ineffective in mitigating the drug-fueled antics at 29 Pentagon Boulevard.
He pointed to the night of November 11, 2024, when a woman sustained life-threatening injuries after being attacked by multiple dogs at the residence.
Detectives with Sault Ste. Marie Police Service would later charge 49-year-old Satu Raitis with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
“There were believed to be 19 dogs inside the residence at the time of the attack, and the two main aggressors were seized and held at a local humane society,” the police service said in a release this past February.
The charges have yet to be tested in court, and Raitis is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Delavalle was outside of his home, taking video on his phone of the police presence on the night of the dog attack. But it turns out that he was the only one who was arrested at the scene.
He was charged by Sault Ste. Marie Police Service with being intoxicated in a public place, contrary to a statute in the Liquor License and Control Act.
Delavalle said that he intends on fighting the $86 fine in Provincial Offences Court next week.
“The court order states that they’re supposed to keep the peace and quiet for me, and to not be disturbed — and when you’ve got flashing lights and people yelling, they’re not keeping the peace,” he told SooToday Wednesday.
The next-door neighbour said the activity at 29 Pentagon Boulevard “started getting bad again,” after Raitis was arrested in February.
“There’s different people coming and going, and throwing garbage,” said Delavalle.
“I see people throwing garbage over the fence all the f⸺ time. Shopping carts, all that stuff.”
The City of Sault Ste. Marie has confirmed that a contractor was given a deadline of April 11 to clean the property.
A follow-up inspection was scheduled for April 14, or one business day following the compliance due date, to confirm that conditions were met.
“During the inspection, it was observed that the site remained non-compliant with the previously identified requirements,” said Francois Couture, manager of building and bylaw enforcement, in an email to SooToday Wednesday.
“The assigned officer contacted the contractor directly to obtain further information regarding the delays and requested an updated timeline for rectification. The contractor advised that the outstanding work would be cleaned up by the end of the day yesterday.
“Had the work not been completed as expected, we would have proceeded with the next contractor who submitted a bid for the project.”
But Delavalle contends that “it was just the one side” of the property that got cleaned up this week.
“The rest of the property is still a f⸺ garbage bin,” he said.