DEL CITY — Building fences, lawn mowing, police responses and two major fires at a condemned apartment complex are costing taxpayers thousands of dollars a year.
Fire ravaged the club house at the Eagle Point apartments, 759 S Scott St., Friday night. Firefighters and other city workers remained at the vacant apartments until Monday evening monitoring hot spots and pushing the charred debris from the building into heaps, Del City Fire Chief Jim Hock said.
Groups of drifters frequently stay in the ramshackle buildings, Hock said. He suspects the most recent fire and one last year were accidentally set by squatters who keep the dark units lit by candlelight and stay warm by lighting small indoor fires.
In November, a transient woman was found dead in one of the buildings after a fire that damaged several units.
Wiring, guttering, windows and even entire stairwells have been stripped from the buildings.
"You wouldn't believe the amount of traffic going through a vacant apartment complex," Hock said.
Taxpayers on hook
Hock estimates fighting the blaze cost about $25,000 in equipment and manpower.
"And that's a low-end estimate," he said.
When they responded to the fire call Friday night, Hock said his men had to dodge couches and debris scattered around the property to get near the fire.
"There really isn't any way for the city to get ahead of this problem until someone buys the property and tears it down," Hock said.
Eagle Point is one of about a dozen apartment complexes in the metro area linked to California real estate investor Shashikant Jogani. Many of the properties are in poor condition, and three, including Eagle Point, have been condemned in Del City. Two of those complexes, Kristie Manor North apartments, 5236 SE 29, and Logan Point apartments, 481 S Scott, were recently bought and the dilapidated apartments demolished.
Eagle Point has been in bank foreclosure since 2008, court records show. Since then, the property has been owned by at least three banks, Del City Manager Mark Edwards said.
Calls to Jogani's attorney were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Estimates to demolish the property add up to around $300,000, an amount the city can't afford, Edwards said.
"Taxpayers are on the hook no matter which way we go," he said.
On top of the fire costs, the police department responds to calls of vagrants gutting the units and gathering in parking lots and inside the buildings.
But an absentee property owner poses a challenge to law enforcement. Without a victim, the city can't charge those caught trespassing and pilfering the apartments. Frequently they can't be arrested or fined, Deputy Police Chief John Smith said.
Since it was vacated in early 2009, officers said they have been called out to the apartments more than 100 times.
"It's a host of things — scrappers taking the metal, drugs and alcohol, loud noises, shots fired and prowlers," Smith said. "We've even recovered stolen vehicles there."
He estimates it has cost about $10,000 to $12,000 responding to and investigating activity at the apartments since it's been empty.
"We've been frustrated by this," he said.
City code enforcement officers often visit the complex weekly to make sure the grass is low and a fence around the property is still standing.
City Planner Tom Leatherbee said he figures code visits cost about $150 a month in staff time, adding up to about $1,800 over the course of a year.
That doesn't include the cost of the fencing and equipment to keep people out of the buildings.
He said the city has worked with individuals interesting in buying the property, but the bank in possession of the apartments won't respond.
"It's a crying shame," Edwards said. "Part of the problem is how cities are allowed to deal with dilapidated properties."
Edwards said the city can place a lien on the property for some of the costs, but the likelihood of ever recouping that money is slim.
In the meantime, the city has been sued by Jogani for wrongfully condemning Kristi Manor apartments. That case is still pending. <<< Del City should be sued for the same thing toward Eagle Point.
An ongoing battle
Charles Locke, Oklahoma City code manager, said code officers visit the vacant Lantana apartments, 7408 NW 10, at least twice a month. The complex is owned by Jogani and also in bank foreclosure.
"We've secured it, but it's an ongoing battle," said Locke.
In November 2008, a pizza delivery employee was killed at the apartments. Over the years there have been problems with high grass and maintenance. Locke said keeping the structure locked and boarded up has kept vagrants at bay.
"We're out there more than I'd like to be," he said.
Del City Punished
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Originally Posted by redrunner
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