Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services Department

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager    

 

THRU:

Scott McCullough, Planning and Development Services Director

 

FROM:

Julie Wyatt, Code Enforcement Officer

 

Date:

April 23, 2009

 

RE:

1207 E. 13th Street, unsafe structure

 

 

The City Commission adopted Resolution No. 6823 on March 10, 2009, setting a public hearing date of April 28, 2009, for the discussion of the dilapidated house at 1207 E. 13th Street.  The majority of the house has been removed by the property owner, although the subflooring and the attached garage remain. The ongoing demolition project is incomplete and continues to be a safety concern, posing a nuisance and unsafe condition for adjacent properties and residents.  

 

The owner of record is:        Christopher Miller

                                      PO Box 1265 

                                      Lawrence, KS 66044-8265

 

The house was damaged by a fire on 1/27/08. Staff initially made contact with Mr. Miller on 4/25/08 regarding the condition of the structure. Mr. Miller secured a demolition permit on 7/31/08 and has been slowly dismantling the structure since that date. Mr. Miller indicated on the submitted demolition permit he was planning to remove a small two story frame house.  Staff has learned that his plans are now to keep the garage for storage.

 

It is staff’s opinion the complete demolition of the structure requires the demolition of the attached garage.  By allowing the garage to remain, Mr. Miller has created an illegal non-conforming use as section 20-533(2) of the Development Code states the following:

 

(i)                 accessory uses shall be a subordinate part of a principal use and be clearly incidental to a principal use

(ii)                accessory structures shall be secondary importance and subordinate in size and scale to the principal building on a site

 

It is staff’s recommendation that a resolution be adopted ordering the property owner to remove the subfloor and garage within 30 days.  Should the owner fail to accomplish the order of the resolution, the city would have the authority to take necessary actions to remove the unsafe conditions, by removing the remaining subfloor and garage. 

 

Attached are documents related to this property, including a chronology of staff contacts with Mr. Miller along with pictures of the current conditions of the property.   Please let me know if you have questions concerning this matter.