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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4E, Order to Remove Hazardous Building & Contents . _HIttS Request for Council Action ~ Prepared By: James Lehnhoff, City Planner Council Meeting Date: August 11, 2008 Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents Budgeted Amount: $0.00 Actual Amount: $0.00 Funding Source: Recommendation: Motion to Approve the Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents at 3150 Hamline Avenue. Supporting Documents: 1. August 11, 2008, Memo to the City Council 2. June 26,2006, Memo to the City Council (without attachments) & Minutes 3. Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents - __LS MEMORANDUM DATE: August 11, 2008 TO: Mayor and City Council I r James Lehnhoff, City Planner I( Jerry Filla, City Attorney FROM: SUBJECT: Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents 3150 Hamline Avenue Reauested Action Motion to Approve the Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents at 3150 Hamline Avenue. Backeround On June 26, 2006, the City Council held a public hearing and voted 4-0 to authorize staff to begin abatement at 3150 Hamline Avenue and to assess the property for costs associated with the abatement. The abatement was authorized because the property owner failed to remove a dilapidated storage building and items in the building, which had been deemed a public health and safety hazard. The memo to the City Council and minutes from the June 26, 2006, City Council meeting are attached for reference (Attachment A). According to the City Attorney, criminal prosecutions and subsequent motions to enforce court orders were still pending when the abatement was originally approved. The property owner has since failed to cleanup the property. The City Attorney has prepared the Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents at 3150 Hamline Avenue, which, when approved, will move the abatement process forward (Attachment B). After the Order is signed, the property owner will have twenty days to either cleanup the property or file a response with the Ramsey County District Court. If the property owner does not cleanup the property or respond to the Court, the City will file a motion for Summary Enforcement of this Order with the District Court requesting judgment in favor of the City and allowing the City to: City of Arden Hills City Council Meetingfor August 11, 2008 \\Metro-inet.us\ardenhills\Building\Address File\Hamline Avenue North \3150\081108 - CC Report - Order to Remove Hazardous Building - Legal Description Correction. doc Page 1 of2 1. Raze and dispose of the storage building, lattice fence, and building contents; 2. Recover all costs and expenses incurred by the City in order to raze and dispose of the storage building, the lattice fence and the building contents, including reasonable attorney's fees and administrative costs incurred herein; and, 3. Assess all costs incurred by the City against the property for collection in one lump sum with the succeeding year's real estate taxes. Recommendation The City Attorney and Staff recommend approving the motion for the amended Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents at 3150 Hamline Avenue. Attachments A - June 26, 2006, Memo to the City Council (without attachments) and Minutes B - Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents City of Arden Hills City Council Meetingfor August 11, 2008 \ \Metro-inet.us\ardenhills\Building\Address File\Hamline Avenue North \3150\081108 - CC Report - Order to Remove Hazardous Building - Legal Description Correction. doc Page 2 of2 Attachment A June 26, 2006, Memo to the City Council (without attachments) and Minutes August 11, 2008, City Council Meeting . . . ~ MEMORANDUM DATE: June 26, 2006 Agenda Item 6.A TO: Mayor and City Council Michelle Walfe, City Administrator Karen Barton, Community Development Director J crry Filla, City Attorney FROM: Dave ScherbeI, Building Official SUBJECT: Regarding 3150 Hamline Aven.ue Historv The City has been in the process of attem.pting to have the owner of the property located 3150 Hamline Avenue remove various code violations which are located 011 that property. Attached is a memo dated September 20, 2005, outlining the numerous correspondence and communications the City has had with the owner, Dorothy Stenberg, to abate the code violations located on both of the properties she owns in Arden Hills (3150 Hamline Avenue and 1415 Glenhill Road). Also attached is the Notice of Hearing to begin the abatement process to remove the code violations at 3150 Hamline Avenue. In a letter dated September 29t 2004) City staff communicated to Ms. Stenberg that the storage building (at 3150 Hamline Avenue) was unsafe and that work that was performed on that building does not change the unsafe condition.. Staff notes in that letter the following: stairs unsafe for human travel; rotted wood on walls in all areas; rotted wood all areas of roof - visible from the underside of the eaves; rotted wood at tail ends of the roof joists; new roof decking was installed and unable to determine how it was attached to rotten joists; structure still appears to be a harborage for rodents; structure is still in general disrepair including fencing attached to structure; trees growing through fence. Staff stated in that letter tl1at for all of the above reasons the structure is stillllnsafe and needs to be repaired or removed. I.Je2al Action Attached is a list of recent court action taken on the above properties. The following is a swmnary of those actions: On August 4th of 2004 the City did write two citations (one for each property) for the above violations.. Memo to Mayor & City Council Jlme 26, 2006 3150 Hamline Ave 2 . · After many delays, continuances, and a plea of not guilty the OWller did appear in court on the 13th ,of July of2005. The owner plead guilty to having a vehicle that is unlicensed and inoperable, an RV parked in the front yard unlicensed and inoperable, and a structure that is unsafe or in disrepair as of August 4th of2004. The City agreed to stay imposition and sentencing as long as the owner followed the timetable to abate the violations according to the prearranged "compliance agreement" which is attached. As of June 21st, 2006 the storage building and rubbish, debris, and fence remain. Summary The City is, and has been, aware of unsafe structures located at 3150 Hamline Avenue for a number of years. It is the City's responsibility to remedy any and all safety concerns in a timely manner, and if not, the City could 'possibly be held responsible for not taking action in a timely manner. From the outside the structure is severely deteriorated and rotting. Exterior sheathing is falling away because the structure can no longer hold fasteners in several areas. There is a high fence . (over 1 0 feet tall) that appears as though it could fall over at any time. The owner has refused staff entry into the building for a better inspection of the structure's frame, but from the exterior, the building remains a hazard and possibly a magnet for children to play on, in, or near the building. As of June 21, 2006 the unsafe structures remain. City staff can see no other action to be taken by the City, other than to enforce abatement proceedings against the property. R~auest City staff requests the Council to authorize staff to begin the abatement process of the structure, storage of material, debris, vehicles, and fence in disrepair, as allowed under City Code 600.03, Subd. 4 and State Statute 463. Further, City staff requests the Council to direct staff to assess the property at 3150 Hamline Avenue all costs incurred in the abatement of3150 Hamline Avenue as allowed under City Code 600.06, Subd. 2 and State Statute 463. \\I'.1etro-inet.us\ardenhills\BuiJding\Address File\l Code Enforcement\Hamline Avenue North\3150\City Council Memo 062606.DOC . . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 3 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Abatement Hearin2 for 3150 Hamline Avenue Ms" Barton stated that over a period of several years. City staff has been working with. Ms. Dorothy Stenberg, owner of 3150 Hamline Avenue and. 1415 Glenhill Road to correct numerous code violations on her two properties. Of most serious concern for the City are the public health and safety conc~ms with the unsafe condition of tile storage building located at 3150 Hamline A venue. Ms. Barton indicated that Ms. Stenberg had been notified on numerous occasions that the building and surrounding debris required immediate attention. At this time, Ms. Stenberg has yet to comply with the written ord.ers from the City regardin.g the unsafe structure. Ms. Stenberg was formally cited on August 4, 2004, for failure to comply. Subsequently, Ms. Stenberg pleaded guilty to the violations. The City agreed to stay imposition and sentencil1g provided Ms. Stenberg signed and adhered to a compliance agreement Wit11 the City. The compliance agre~ment gave Ms. Stenberg until September 1, 2005, to repair or remove the storage building and to clean-up the surrounding rubbish and debris. As of today, the storage building, rubbish, and debris remain. Ms. Barton stated th.at in light of these facts and that the building still poses a serious health and safety hazard, staff is requesting City Council authorization to continue with the abatement proceeding for tIle stru.cture and surrounding debris and to allow for the assessment of the property for all costs associated with the abatement process, as allowed under City Code 600.06, subd. 2 and State Statute 463. Mayor Aplikowski opened the public hearing at 7:17 p.m. City Attorney Jerry Filla stated the City had received a letter dated June 18, 2006 from Mrs. Martin Stenberg, property Qwn.er. Mrs. Stenberg requested her letter be read into the record: Village of Arden Hills and Dave Scherbel, I'm writing this letter in answer to Mr. Scherbel's letter dated June 8, 2006, in regard to the property I own at 3150 North Hamline Avenue in Arden Hills. I'm requesting with this letter, that this letter be read aloud to the Council members at the hearing that Mr. Scherbel has scheduled on June 26, 2006. I want to be sure that every Council member hears the truth about all the complaints. against me. The Arden Hills building il1spector came to my h.ome and told me that the storage building on the vacant lot that I own in Arden Hills was in disrepair, and that the neighbors were complaining. It was not at all true that the neighbors \vere complaining. That was totally false. My son came to check the building, and found the roof to need repair, but instead of having the roofrepaired,.we . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 4 decided to put o'n a totally new roof. I set out to find carpenters. I hired two carpenters after receiving an excellent reference for them from the Perkins Restaurant Manager. I then went to the Arden Hills Village office, requested and received a building permit to put on a new roof The carpenters then went to the Village office, requested, and received instructions to put on the roof exactly to the Village requirements. The carpenters spent 3 days putting on the new root: and a 4t11 day working on tIle outside of the building. There were no openings, no loose boards, - the building is not sagging, or leaning, even though 4 days were spent on the building, the building inspector did not come out in' all that time, and when I called the Village office for inspection, the inspector came out, but would not go up to look at the roof. He wrote a letter saying that he did not have a way to get on the roof, and he then mailed a new listing of complaints against me that were false. I paid $2,000.00 to the carpenter for their work, which was totally satisfactory to my son and myself. Not until all of the work was completed on the building was I told that the building was unsafe and had to be taken down. It makes no sense to say that the building is unsafe. The carpenters weighed a total of 450 lbs., and spent 3 days on the roof: The neighbor on the south side came to us twice, to assure us that he had not com.plained about the building. I called Lowell Anderson on the north side, and he said "absolutely not" to n1Y qllestion of whether he had a complaint against the building. He then wrote and mailed a letter to Mayor Aplikowski, expressing his feelings of what the Village was doing to me~ Mrs~ Aplikowski can show you that letter~ My husband has passed away; I'm alone, in poor health, and bedridden mllch of the time. My son Marlin lives 50 miles away, and in the short time that he can be here, he is trying to empty our building. I have said over and over again that when we sell the property, the first thing the new owners will do is to take down the storage building to make way for their new home. There is absolutely no sense in taking that building away from nle~ There are so many people staying in touch with me about this. I'm in close contact with a well kn.own building inspector from Minneapolis, and with an attorney recommended to me. Mrs. Martin Stenberg Mr. Filla stated in 2004 the City filed a citation in Criminal Court, which took an inordinate amount of time to resolve. He noted Mrs. Stenberg had pled guilty to tile charges with conditions, but failed to sign the conditions and was therefore appearing before the judge again in the near future. He stated he did not believe the City could have done anything else to work with the property owner. He indicated this had been a six-year process and the property has n.ot been cleaned up during. this time period. Mayor Aplikowski stated she had looked at the property about a year ago and had requested Mrs. Stenberg remove the. fence, which she had refused to do. She stated she had also offered to remove all of Mrs. Stenberg's personal property and take it to her, which she also refused. She believed this was an unsafe condition and she did not understand why Mrs. Stenberg was so resistant to accepting help. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 26, 2006 5 Mr. Filla stated he believed the property owner was unable to deal with the cleaning up of this property and he too had offered to have the property cleaned up and her personal items delivered to her, which had been refused. Councilmember Pellegrin asked if the Fire Department had made any comments regarding the safety of this structure. Ms. Barton stated she did not believe the Fire Department had inspected this, but she had been out to the property and believed this structure was in imminent threat of collapse. Mayor Aplikowski closed the public hearing at 7 :28 p.m. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to authorize staff to begin abatement at 3150 Hamline Avenue and to authorize staff to assess the property at 3150 Hamline Avenue for all costs incurred in relation to the abatem.ent process. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Community Foundation Ms. Wolfe stated Mayor Aplikowski has been successful in gathering a group of residents who are interested in an effort to form a community foundation. They held their first meeting on June 4 and a future meeting is sch.eduled for July 5. She indicated in August 2004 the Council discussed the possibility of establishing a community foundation. A representative from the St. Paul Foundation attended the meeting. Mr. Bob Lawson. from the St. Paul Foundation recommended a feasibility study as a good first step towards establishment of a foundation. Council expressed an interest in the concept, and thought it would be helpful to have a feasibility stu.dy done. Staff informed the St. Paul Foundation of the interest in such a study but they did not respolld. She stated Mayor Aplikowski was able to gather a group of interested residents. Most of these residents have experience workin.g with foundations or serving on foundation boards. At the first meeting there was general discussion about different approaches to establishing a foundation. ill general the group agreed that they would like to pursue this endeavor and do some research with other communities to try and determine the best way to get started~ While there was some discussion about the foundation needing to be separate from the City, there is probably a need for City support, especially in the beginning. The group requested that the Mayor and City Administrator approach the City Council about Council's willingness to support this effort. Support could include, but not limited to: Providing meeting space; providing a staff liaison to the Committee; providing staff assistance in setting agendas for meetings, conducting research, preparing meeting notes, and other related tasks; Finance Department assistance.. Attachment B Order to Remove Hazardous Building and Contents August 11, 2008, City Council Meeting ORDER TO REMOVE HAZARDOUS BUilDING AND CONTENTS 3150 HAMllNE AVENUE ARDEN HillS, MINNESOTA To: Dorothy Mae Stenberg 1415 Glenhill Road Arden Hills, MN 1. T~e records of the Ramsey County Recorder indicate that you are the owner of the following described property situated in Ramsey County, Minnesota which has a postal address of 3150 Hamline Ave. ("Property") to wit: All of lot Ten, Hackney Park, Ramsey County, Minnesota; and the southerly one-half of lot Nine and twenty-five feet southerly from the northeast corner thereof, to a point on the westerly line of said lot Nine and forty-five feet southerly from the northwest corner thereof, all according to the plat of Hackney Park on file and of record in the office of the Registrar of Deeds of Ramsey County. 2. There is a storage building and wooden lattice fence on the Property and there are materials within the storage building. 3. Based upon the inspection conducted by the City's Building Official, the Storage Building, the contents of the storage building and the wooden lattice fence constitute a hazardous building and/or hazardous property for the following reasons: A. There is rotten wood on all of the walls of the Storage Building. B. There is rotten wood in all areas of the roof as visible from the undersides of the eaves. C. There is rotted wood at the tail ends of the roof joists. D. It cannot be determined how the roof decking was attached to the rotten wood joists. E. There are indications that the storage building harbors rodents. F. The stairs of the storage building are unsafe for use because of rotten wood components. G. The exterior sheathing is falling away from the structure of the storage building because the structure can no longer hold the fasteners. H. The storage building is located on an otherwise vacant lake lot in a residential neighborhood of the City of Arden Hills. I. The storage building, its contents and the lattice fence are located approximately 5 feet from a garage and approximately 50 feet from a residential dwelling on adjacent parcels. J. The lattice fence has fallen to the ground in some areas; is detached from the wood frame; and is rotting. K. Trees are growing through the lattice fence. L. The contents of the building have been exposed to weather conditions of all types over a long period of time. 4. The City has sent numerous notices to you requesting that the storage building and lattice fence be brought into compliance with the City's building code and has issued citations for code violations relating to the storage building. 5. You have pled guilty to the citations but have otherwise disregarded the conditions of the sentence imposed by the Court. 6. After notice and public hearing held on June 26, 2006, the City Council directed the City Attorney to follow the hazardous building and property procedures outlined in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 463. 7. You are either unwilling or unable to remove the storage building, building contents and lattice fence or bring such items into compliance with the City's regulations. NOW THEREFORE, you are ordered to raze the storage building and lattice fence; and remove the materials and the storage building contents from the Property ("Corrective Action") within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order. 1. If you fail to take the Corrective Action within the required time; or if you do not file an answer within the time specified by Minnesota Statutes ~463.18, the City of Arden Hills will file a motion for Summary Enforcement of this Order with the Ramsey County District Court and will request the Ramsey County District Court to issue a judgment in favor of the City allowing the City to: A. Raze and dispose of the storage building, lattice fence and building contents. 2 B. Recover all costs and expenses incurred by the City in order to raze and dispose of the storage building, the lattice fence and the building contents, including reasonable attorney's fees and administrative costs i ncu rred herei n. C. Assess all costs incurred by the City against the property for collection in one (1) lump sum with the succeeding year's real estate taxes. CITY OF ARDEN HILLS Dated: By: Stanley J. Harpstead, Mayor STATE OF MINNESOTA ) ) SSe COUNTY OF ) On this _ day of , 2008, before me, a notary public within and for said county, personally appeared Stan Harpstead, to me known to be respectively the Mayor of the City of Arden Hills, and they executed the foregoing instrument and acknowledged that they executed the same by authority of and on behalf of the City of Arden Hi lis. Notary Public F:\users\Jessica\Jerry\Arden Hills\Order to Remove.v5.doc 3