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A downtown Oshawa museum has received nearly $3,000 in fines from the city for failure to address nuisance-related concerns.

“If it was me, personally, I would have liked to have seen a compliance order instead, but apparently this has been going on for a year and a half and maybe the bylaw officers felt like they had to elevate it to the next level,” Oshawa Regional Councillor Rick Kerr told the Toronto Sun . “Now, regardless of why and how long, it is what it is right now and we are dealing with it.”

Kerr is the councillor in Ward 4, part of which encapsulates the downtown core.

The Canadian Automotive Museum has received $2,750 in nuisance fines since about mid-September. It received two more fines on Wednesday, dated to the beginning of the month. In total, it has accrued seven nuisance fines.

Heart of the matter

According to executive director Alexandra Miller-Gerrard, the museum received a municipal bylaw order last June and despite addressing some of the city’s concerns about the conduct of “unsheltered individuals,” the fines have been piling up. Additionally, the city has told the museum to hire security to deal with the homeless problem.

“There are large groups of unsheltered individuals that frequent the subject property, who have been regularly causing nuisance-related concerns within direct public view,” Miller-Gerrard said, quoting the reasons why the museum is getting fined. “This includes but not limited to loitering, fighting, screaming, yelling, littering and other unpleasant disorderly or obnoxious conduct.”

The fines are related to City of Oshawa bylaw 65-2009, Sec. 3.1, which pertains to loitering and nuisance problems.

“That’s what’s causing the ongoing issues with homeless people on the property,” Kerr said, referring to the Back Door Mission for the Relief of Poverty that operates out of the Simcoe St. United Church, which lies kitty-corner from the museum. “The police come in to clear them, they come back, the bylaw (officers) spend hours trying to move people on when it’s not a private security situation.”

He was asked why the museum is being fined when it’s mainly clients of a nearby mission causing “disorderly or obnoxious conduct.”

“If something is happening on one property and it is causing distress on other properties, then that’s a nuisance and it’s causing a nuisance in terms of police time, security time, vital officers’ time trying to help people through this,” he said.

Miller-Gerrard referred the same question to the city.

“I’d encourage you to chat with someone from the city or bylaw,” she said.

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Museum out thousands of dollars

Beyond the fines, the situation is a financial headache in other ways, too.

In the last 18 months or so, Miller-Gerrard said that the museum has had to replace three broken windows. She also said the HVAC system was destroyed when someone tried to “steal the copper out of it.

“We had to replace that,” she said, estimating the costs at about $15,000.

To further comply with the city’s requests, they invested in security cameras, improved exterior lighting, signage and more. The issues have driven visitors away, too.

“Just in the last couple months, we’ve seen an uptake in visitor feedback regarding these concerns,” Miller-Gerard said. “So there has been a handful of reviews that’s been left on our business pages, saying people didn’t feel comfortable getting out of their vehicles because of the situation in downtown Oshawa.”

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‘Practical improvements’ sought for downtown

Beyond grants, the business earns its money through ownership of a parking lot, where Miller-Gerard said revenues are down by about 34%.

“We rent parking spaces to local businesses and others that work in the downtown core,” Miller-Gerard said. “And we just had one person that had just recently started renting from us; she cancelled because she just didn’t feel comfortable.”

In a news release, the museum asked for “practical improvements” to enhance safety in the area including improved lighting and access control, “proactive security and bylaw support” and better co-ordination with the city.

“The museum is a small charitable organization which cannot reasonably address these challenges on its own,” Miller-Gerard said in the release.

Meanwhile, the city has seemingly shelved the issue in the middle of the municipal election campaign.

“There are some forward plans, but I cannot comment on that and make a definitive statement,” Kerr said. “Right now, we’re in the middle of a municipal election.”

ganderson@postmedia.com