East Lansing City Council voted Tuesday night to demolish the house of Claudette Nelson, the once-resident of 1025 Snyder Rd.
Nelson has not been residing in the house for almost six years, although she is still the owner, she said at the meeting, and had previously failed to comply with numerous city notices on the state of the property. She had failed to gain a signed contract with a licensed builder providing a reasonable start and completion date for fixing serious issues with the residence.
Neighbors presented themselves during the public comment portion of the meeting to express dismay at the state of the vacant house which was described by Building and Code Administer Glen Dempsey as having problems such as black mold, personal items and clothing littered throughout the house and he was unsure of the extend of the damage, saying that "there was stuff everywhere". He said when he was inside the house he was not able to make it up the stairs.
"It was a building that just wasn't maintained," Dempsey said.
Dempsey was asked by councilmembers how much the fixes to the residence would cost and he ranged the price to be between $30,000 - $40,000.
The council itself voted to approve the recommendation of Dangerous Building Hearing Officer Larry Cross which will then require Nelson to demolish the residence within 60 days or the city will take the necessary steps to fix the problem. Nelson does have the ability to appeal the decision, and the 60 day deadline will then be suspended pending the resolution of the appeal, which Nelson said after the meeting she intended to do.
Nelson herself was at the meeting to present the reasons why complying with the city orders were difficult for her. She said with her income it would be difficult, as she had to borrow money from family and she could not get a bank loan due because of her second mortgage. She also owes around $4,000 in taxes.
"That is everything that I have, not only that building but the contents therein," she said.
Councilmember Ruth Beier presented a motion to extend Nelson's time frame when she would be allowed to prove compliance with a contractor, although many of the councilmembers and Mayor Nathan Triplett himself saying that he didn't believe merely extending the deadline would allow her enough time to comply. Beier's motion was not passed.
Mayor Pro Tempore Diane Goddeeris said though she felt for the situation of Nelson, she did not believe extending the deadline would be a reasonable solution to the problem, especially since Nelson could not show progress after three months.
"I don't see that continuing down the path is going to help," Goddeeris said.
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