Toledo to reach yearly quota with 300th demolition

11/14/2008

More than a month ahead of last year's pace, the city of Toledo will meet its annual demolition quota of 300 units at 10 a.m. today, when city crews tear down the two-story house at 1111 Mallett St.

The property was placed on the city demolition list in July.

"Nuisance properties and negligent property owners harm our entire city and must never be tolerated," Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said in a statement.

Junk and debris led the city to issue its first nuisance orders against the property in 1998, said Susan Frederick, the city's manager of code enforcement.

Unsanitary conditions caused the city to declare the property unfit for human habitation in 2001.

The home owner, William Moore, died in 2005, Ms. Frederick said, and his daughter, Margaret, moved in.

The city continued to issue nuisance orders, and city crews cleaned up the property until the house, "through continued neglect, was in need of extensive structural repairs," Ms. Frederick said in a statement.

Housing and nuisance orders weren't followed, and the house was placed on the city's demolition list.

Last week, an order was posted on the property that Ms. Moore had to vacate the house, and the building was boarded up this week.

In such situations, the city bills the owner for demolition costs and even sues to recover costs, said Jason Webber, the mayor's spokesman.

Ms. Moore could not be reached for comment last night.

The 300th nuisance property demolition of 2007 occurred on Dec. 20.