Junction Triangle

Hello,
This is the first time I've posted to the site. I don't have much of a history of community involvement but our family had loved to live in the south junction triangle until that fateful morning this past January when it all went up in flames. I am one of the owner's of property on the corner of Franklin and Hugo. I am now writing from the condo we live in on dwindling emergency funds because we can't get back into our house. And believe it or not we are one of the lucky ones, many as you may have heard or know were riped out. Well to give you an update and I apologize for bringing the darker side of things into the forum. But we are stuck and are getting desparate with all the delays to rebuilding our lives and our neighborhood. Principally and I won't go into all the nightmarish and traumatic details but because of one derelict and absentee landlord at 227 Franklin ave none of us can rebuild our homes. We are like many of you or your neighbours "semi-detached" and in this kind of event, cooperation between neighbors becomes even more crucial for both emotional support from a shared disaster but also as the road to recovery. Sadly in this case, there has been neither. Virtually all the other houses involved have been cleaned and are ready to be rebuilt in one way or another. Not 227 Franklin, both the source of fire and unfortunately my neighbor. The property has not been cleaned of one stick of fire debris and rotting garbage since January. You can imagine the stench and blooming that is going on now in mid July. Our houses have been invaded by mold and fungus and the rotting contents of 227 have now bred an infestation of vermin (yes) not the cuddly little ones, but there cousins the big black long tailed guys who many of the Carlton Park residents find on their veranda or running at the feet of our contractor at our site 225 Franklin while he was trying to survive what he can do to help us rebuild our house again. And what about the children of the area? He stated frankly he could do nothing until the property at 227 Franklin was cleaned and cleared.
Now to the city Councillor's G is very aware of the situation and his office assistant Samuel Leite has been helpful in trying to escalate our concerns to MLS. However MLS have done nothing. The supervisor at MLS for Ward 18 keeps telling me that there has been a building permit issued for 227 Franklin and there is nothing he can do. I respond the property at 227 Franklin is in clear violation of the Municipal Code property standards with all the garbage and vermin. Again he told me there has been a building permit issued. I told him it wasn't the property owner who filed the application but the engineering firm who needs permits for all the houses to build a common roof for all the semis. Too bad he tells me. I call the City Health Department to report it as a health hazard. Guess what happens I get referred back to MLS as it is not there jurisdiction. Again I talk now this time with the Inspector responsible for our area Mr. H. He says he will go to look at the site but as of today, and that was 2 weeks ago. Still not even a visit let alone an order to comply. The owner of the property has absolutely no incentive to rebuild if the dereliction is any indication.
This my fellow Junctionites is a disgrace in my opinion to allow such an eyesore to run down the quality of life for all the families and my neighbors around Carlton. Park. As of this week we meaning our family are seeking legal council to provide a remedy. I apologize for the tone of this but you can imagine the anger and discouragement all the residents on Franklin are feeling about this lack of concern on the part of the MLS to enable us to get back our lives on Franklin. I would appreciate if the Environment Committee would support us as neighbors in contacting the City about this travesty and denigration of our quality of life in the South Junction as a result of inaction.

Regards
Richard