<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0> ‘They just took everything’ <font color="#ff0000">w/ Joplin city code concerning dangerous buildings & demolition of property </font>

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November 17, 2009

Resident questions demolition policy; city says owner failed to take action

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Nov 17, 2009, 08:07 AM CST

By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

A Joplin man claims that workers hired by the city removed thousands of dollars worth of personal property when a storage barn on his land was demolished after a judge found that the building was in dangerous condition.

City officials contend that the man was given more than four months to fix the building or to clear out and properly store any property he wanted to keep.

William “Bud” Wirick, 305 S. High Ave., said he did not know when a demolition crew showed up on Nov. 2 to take down his storage barn that he would not be allowed to keep a half-dozen cars, a couple of motorcycles, six mowers, tools, 15 rolls of metal roofing material, roof rafters, and other belongings in and around the barn.

Wirick said the property he lost when a crew hired by the city cleared out his storage barn was worth several thousand dollars. He said one of several cars stored there was a 1966 model that was sold as a rebuilder for $2,300, but the buyer hadn’t picked it up yet.

Wirick was cited July 13 in Joplin Municipal Court for allowing a dangerous building to exist next to his house. He pleaded guilty Oct. 6. As a result, Municipal Judge Alex Curchin ordered the city to tear down the building.

Citations

Wirick said he had the barn built because of a number of citations he received over the years for keeping inoperable vehicles parked on the street or in his yard. The city has an ordinance against indefinite open storage of vehicles and other items.

According to court records, Wirick has been cited seven times since 1996 by the city of Joplin for code issues. All but one of those offenses — most were for storing cars and other things on his property — resulted in fines of up to $60. He was fined $272 in 2001 for parking non-operable vehicles on the street.

He said the barn’s roof came down during one of the ice storms that hit the Joplin area in 2007.

Earlier this year, Wirick said, he bought rafters to repair the roof and was slowly working with relatives to fix it as his health and weather conditions permitted. He said he had installed a main support beam and was working on installing rafters when he was cited.

The municipal judge gave him a number of continuances in the case, having him report to the court about every two weeks, he said. He said he had installed all but four new rafters when the weather turned rainy and delayed the work.

He acknowledged that he had not cleared the collapsed debris from inside of the barn.

Wirick said that when the crew showed up Nov. 2, he was told that nothing could be kept.

“They worked on one end of the building for two hours and pulled all the cars out to take it down,” he said. “But supposedly it wasn’t a safe building to go in, according to (the city), but they were in there doing all that work.”

He alleged that the city code enforcement officer in charge of the demolition would not allow him to retrieve items from outside the barn, including the 15 sheets of new metal roofing he intended to use to fix the roof on his house.

He said the crew didn’t even leave him a lawn mower to mow his yard.

“They just took everything,” he said.

‘It has to happen’

Wirick questions why, when the city has helped other residents through its neighborhood improvement program, he couldn’t have been given help or more time. He also wants to know where his cars and other items were taken.

Steve Cope, the city’s neighborhood improvement supervisor, said the city hires private contractors who clear the buildings away and dispose of any contents the owners don’t remove.

“The thing that you’re probably not being told is whether the items had any value,” he said.

David Hertzberg, the city’s public works director, was asked if the city documents the items that are removed from a demolished property. He said photos are taken before and after a demolition. He also said these types of demolitions aren’t inventoried because they involve a scoop-shovel type of removal.

Cope said the city worked with Wirick for much longer than the time the case was pending in court. Wirick had more than a year to take action, he said.

The city uses a procedure that does take time, Cope said. “By the time we go to court, we’ve sent letters a number of times,” he said. “The judge even grants additional time. But there comes a point when it has to happen.”

Wirick questions why the city has a right to take personal property.

“At any time, he could have removed it,” Cope replied. “It’s his building. He could have repaired it. He could have removed the items from it. He had many options to take care of what he had there.”

Cope believes Wirick had the trusses in place at one point, “but he didn’t get sheeting on it, and the trusses collapsed.”

Storage limits

City Attorney Brian Head said the city is allowed under ordinances to clear out property that is considered a nuisance, and that it usually is responding to the complaint of a neighbor when it takes enforcement action.

“It’s questionable whether you could even have that kind of storage in a residential district,” he said of Wirick’s barn.

“It sounds like the code people worked with him pretty hard for a long time to let him have this kind of storage building on his property. Under the zoning code, there are limitations on what you can do with storage.”

Cope said property maintenance is the responsibility of the owner, not the city. Housing demolitions go through the city’s Board of Building Appeals, which works with owners as they rehabilitate properties or orders destruction if the work does not progress.

“I think the biggest thing is that if you’re notified by the city about an issue or a violation, you need to contact the city and work with them as long as you can,” Cope said. “It’s people’s responsibility to keep their property in a condition that is not detrimental to their neighbors.”

Joplin demolitions

Steve Cope, Joplin’s neighborhood improvement supervisor, said the city does about 75 building demolitions each year.