0
Nay:
Appeal of Herbert Darnell Steele to an Emergency Condemnation and Order
to Vacate at 1319-1321 DAYTON AVENUE.
37
Appeal denied.
Also in attendance: Herbert Darnell Steele, appellant
Marcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer: Council president, this is a
condemnation that was issued on April 5th of this year with an effective date of April
7th to vacate this duplex. That is an immediate vacate under the code, so it was
inspected and immediately placarded. The principal violations listed in this order
include continuous water leaking from a water supply source. That would be pipes that
run in between the first and second floor, not the pipes within the upper unit or the
pipes within the lower unit, but the ones in-between. Fresh water leaking out, a lot of it.
There's failing plaster and failing wood supports. There is water leaking obviously into
areas where there are electrical fixtures, particularly noted in the basement. There is
the appearance of mold-like substances in multiple locations in the lower unit. As I
indicated, rotting wood. There are also 2 concerns in particular with the lower unit. That
would be an excessive accumulation of materials in general described as being
maze-like (to be able to get through) and gross unsanitary conditions, which are
exacerbated by the water problems. I believe that water has been shut off to the
property on an emergency basis because of this. I heard this appeal on an emergency
basis immediately on April 6. One of the big questions that we started out with was:
Who owns this property? That sounds like it would be a simple question, but it is not.
The appellant is not the owner. The owners in the materials I provided appear to be the
grandmother of the occupant and then ownership between the aunt's husband and
aunt. It also is kind of odd. That the grandmother has died, so if it were to go through
probate, what would that look like? All this has not been sorted out, but I do know that
the occupant is not the legal owner of the property. That doesn't change the situation in
terms of it being considered not a Certificate of Occupancy property because the lower
unit is occupied by the aunt. She was present for the inspection. So we had code
enforcement inspectors in there. The gentleman, our appellant who lives in the upper
unit, Mister Steele, he has kept his unit in much better condition than the house is
overall. He has not really done anything with the lower unit. The upper unit, I would say
is primarily compromised by failing ceilings. Within that unit, the roof is compromised.
So there's water coming in there causing the ceilings to fail. We can see the black
plastic that is there. Then the concern about the support of the floor given that water
leaking through. These are overall conditions that affect all spaces within the building
when you have these water issues coupled with electrical problems and water also
accumulating in the basement. Those are things that affect you no matter where you
are residing within the building. Given that the building, the duplex, was condemned as
unsafe for human habitation, there is displacement. The lower unit occupant, I believe
moved in with her brother. Mister Steele was looking to find more permanent
circumstances at the time of the hearing. He would like to be able to do some of the
fixes and move back in again. As I review the conditions and the extensive photos,
which I will allow you to look at on the computer, I believe that this is a case where we
have not only the sanitation accumulation issues (which can be addressed to have a
condemnation lifted) but also significant structural electrical plumbing issues. It
becomes a much more complicated problem requiring more complicated solutions. It
is for these reasons that I can't see a way where occupancy could be re-allowed in the
short term under any conditions. It's for that reason that my recommendation was to
deny the appeal. Mister Steele would like to speak to the Council about that
recommendation and object to it.
Council President Brendmoen: I appreciate the in-depth conversation about the
