At the 5/12/09 Lakewood City Council Committee of the Whole meeting (where only two members of the public were present), Jeff Fillar, assistant building commissioner for residential housing, noted that five nuisance properties were on the docket for the Board of Building Standards (BBSA} Review Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
These five properties are at step six (see below) of the repair and demolition process. There are many more steps of the process. You can see a .PDF of the entire process here.
The FitzGerald administration has asked city council to consider changes in the process that would lead to an expedited outcome. The main alteration would remove city council from the process of appeals. Council President Michael Dever (At-Large) yesterday recommended council approve FitzGerald's request.
(Ordinance 1306.521)
- Building commissioner determines unsafe structure or public nuisance
- Building commissioner issues order to repair or demolition
- Building commissioner gives written notice to owner specifying period of time by which repairs must be made.
- Written notice served by personal, residence, or by certified mail
- If owner fails to comply after service by building commissioner, then BBSBA and law director are notified.
- BBSBA shall hold and conduct a public hearing on the question of existence of unsafe structure or public nuisance and failure to comply with order to remedy whether or not any appeal by owner is pending.
Assistant Building Commissioner Fillar said he would prepare a summary of activity for each property. I hope to post it here when it's available.
After the meeting was over, I stopped at each of the properties, and here is what I saw:
1468 West 117th St.
This apartment has been in foreclosure since 12/18/2008 and is $11,290.26 behind in property taxes. The 22-suite apartment offers no parking and was mentioned in this police report .
2107 Robin
This 4-unit building has been in foreclosure since 1/16/2009 and has a for sale sign up. County records show it was purchased by Carl Cline for $170,000 in 12/29/2006.
According to the retired lady living next door, this house has been empty for about a year and a half. She is very unhappy with the state of the neighborhood, particularly the quality of renters. She said she hadn't contacted anyone at city hall regarding the house, nor have they contacted her. She didn't know who was maintaining the yard.
She said the house has a squirrel infestation. As she was telling me this, I looked up and saw a squirrel crawl down the roof and enter the house's attic through a hole near the gutters. She also pointed to some large boards on ground by the house's foundation and said much larger animals were nesting there.
2101 Dowd
The owner of this property, Joe Falat (pictured above), happened to be in the front yard when I walked by. Falat lives with his 6-year-old son on Magee, where he's resided for 40 years. He said the 4-unit building has been empty for 10 years for a number of reasons. He had been caring for his ill mother until she passed away and wasn't able to spend any time on the house. He also held off on investing in the property because of rumored developments in the area over the years. First, there was a proposed senior citizens center, and then there was the new school construction.
Falat said the school board made him an offer for the property, but he felt it was too low. Negotiations continued, but the school levy passed and negotiations ended. His home equity line was recently canceled, so he is doing all the repairs himself. He just put on a new roof. He emphasized he is at the house several times a day, has a good relationship with the neighbors, and no one has complained.
His main gripe about the city is that they are demanding an unreasonable amount of work be accomplished within a 30-day window. He can only do a little bit at time. He wants to first improve the outside of the house and then begin to work on the inside. He plans on putting down a new asphalt driveway when warmer weather arrives. He expects to retire at the end of the
year and said he will have much more time to spend on the house.
He had a relative who is a retired architect draw up renovation plans, but the city rejected them because they were not prepared by a certified architect licensed to do business in Ohio.
Falat indicated he wants to repair the building and rent out the units. County records show he is $3,077.93 behind in property taxes.
Plywood Palace on Dowd
This house isn't on the docket, but I noticed it while walking down Dowd. I don't know what happened to it.
13736 Detroit
Tracy Brown purchased this building, next to Calanni's Auto Service, in January 2003 for $150,000. His property taxes are current. The interior conditions of this structure are described in this police report.
14124 Detroit
This is how the building looked early this morning. But someone was visiting last night.
The apartment building, located next to Giant Eagle, has been in foreclosure since 12/29/2008. Westlake resident W. James Mayer owes $21,811.58 in property taxes, $14,704.89 of which are delinquent. More can be learned about this building from this police report.
