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Drug House

Keystone

SAWHORSE
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
1,273
Location
Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
One of my municipalities has a drug property that’s very recently been condemned & windows boarded up, doors pad locked. It’s a detached in law suite/casita type dwelling. The property has now been broken into twice. In both instances, during police searches for people both times hidden safes have been exposed in plain view from walls, within sofas, etc... During the last break in, someone placed their own padlock on the door.


This property is not habitable, sewer is illegal, electric service illegal. There is no way to make this a habitable dwelling.


Anyone out there dealt with a similar issue, if so how did you proceed? I’m under the 2018 IPMC.
 
Not into that,

But does your city have a process to

Either get the owner to tear it down/condemn it

or

After the court process, the city tears it down?

So are there people living in the other structure?
 
If there is still electric service to the unit,,,, Do you have at least the power to pull the meter???
 
We have specific legislation from our province that allows us to act where a building is a danger to the public in the opinion of the building official. We can tear it down and bill the property owner. if they refuse to pay, the province applies it to the next year's property tax.

Obviously a little more to it than that with notices and appeals, but those are the basics.
 
They have been tearing down Condemned structures here since before I got here. They give the owner a chance to do it them selves or pull 90 day make progress permit to make code complaint again. If fail to do so they continue the process and eventually demo them and put liens on the property. They recently passed a new ordinance (Chronic Nuisance) that if a property has 3 or more PD/Fire calls gets fast tracked and demoed in about 30-45 days. Not sure how the lawyers and City Council do it. I would assume your state law may not allow in some states.
 
If there is still electric service to the unit,,,, Do you have at least the power to pull the meter???
That was the one of the interesting parts, the property had a meter, we had the utility company pull it, power remained active. The power was switched at some point from the meter to a a garage sub panel box feed underground from the main house. We had an electrician go into the main house, pull the breaker and remove the wiring from the sub panel.
 
Sorry to say, but this is really more up to what your local city council (or governing body) has the stomach to do, and what is backed up by local laws/ordinances in municipal code.
 
Sorry to say, but this is really more up to what your local city council (or governing body) has the stomach to do, and what is backed up by local laws/ordinances in municipal code.

That is understood, I’m exploring all available options to see if anyone has gone outside the box of what direction we are likely to seek.
 
In California once the building is declared a substandard building in accordance with statutes, you set in motion a legal process that will resolve the problem. Maybe the City Attorney can find comparable legislative authority.
 
If you can find a way to fine or lien until you own it? CT has this in code as well....

(Add) SECTION 118 – VACANT BUILDINGS
(Add) 118.1 General. Temporarily unoccupied buildings, structures, premises or portions
thereof, including tenant spaces, shall be safeguarded and maintained in accordance with this
section.
(Add) 118.1.1 Abandoned premises. Buildings, structures and premises for which an owner
cannot be identified or located by dispatch of a certificate of mailing to the last known or registered
address, which persistently or repeatedly become unprotected or unsecured; which have been
occupied by unauthorized persons or for illegal purposes; or which present a danger of structural
collapse or fire spread to adjacent properties shall be considered abandoned, declared unsafe
and abated or demolished in accordance with this code.
(Add) 118.2 Safeguarding vacant premises. Temporarily unoccupied buildings, structures,
premises or portions thereof shall be secured and protected in accordance with this section.
(Add) 118.2.1 Security. Exterior openings and interior openings accessible to other tenants or
unauthorized persons shall be boarded, locked, blocked or otherwise protected to prevent entry
by unauthorized individuals.
 
Haven't you read about the "Ghost House" in Oakland? "Read it! Many deaths due to failed oversight by local authorities.
 
That was the one of the interesting parts, the property had a meter, we had the utility company pull it, power remained active. The power was switched at some point from the meter to a a garage sub panel box feed underground from the main house. We had an electrician go into the main house, pull the breaker and remove the wiring from the sub panel.

When we condemn one we have the electrical inspector send a copy of the condemnation to the power company. He asks them to remove service in it's ENTIRETY. So basically all the way back to the pole so people won't hot wire the service and steal power.
 
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When we condemn one we have the electrical inspector send a copy of the condemnation to the power company. He asks them to remove service in it's ENTIRETY. So basically all the way back to the pole so people won't hot wire the service and steal power.

In the majority of situations when we condemn a property, we stay onseen until the utility company comes out and have them disconnect the leads from the house from the utility pole or box.the utility company first removes the meter, when they removed the meter and power remained we traced it back to the original house which makes this a unique circumstance that I’ve never encountered.
 
Ok here you go

Approve a complete demo permit on same street

Than go but big same address numbers on this building !!!
 
My history under all the IPMC codes, early on, I had our municipal code emend the "Failure to Obey" laws to include "Building Officials", so that when I post them with a notice under Section 108, if someone enters the premise, PD can arrest for "Failure to Obey", and toss them out. Keep securing them, place liens, on the property, sooner or later, the jurisdiction can take action to foreclose.
 
We are fairly aggressive. Red tag with 20 days to appeal my decision. If no appeal I let the owner propose a reasonable date by which they will have demo completed. If they are unreasonable I give them 30-60 days to remove. Every day beyond deadline is a potential fine of $100.00 plus court costs.
 
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