City Sues Brothers to Raze House
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Dec. 11, 2002
Jerry Magganas and his brother, Athan, call their rickety and crumbling house "Anastasia," a Greek word for reincarnation.
It is certainly going to take one to revive 1680 Oak Park Boulevard.
Pleasant Hill has sued the Greek brothers over the dilapidated and hazardous condition of their vacant digs, calling on the owners to hire a licensed contractor to tear it down.
It is the final word in a city tangle over the increasingly shabby look of the 53-year-old house, last occupied by a transient caught snoozing in a rear bedroom.
"Nine times out of 10, property owners comply over a period of time," said City Attorney Debra Margolis. "But this is the first time in my eight years here that we've had to file a lawsuit to do it."
Indeed, the four-bedroom house already looks like a wrecking ball has passed through its grungy hallways once or twice.
Holes gape in the ceiling. Cracks in the stucco. Smashed-out or boarded up windows. Rodent droppings. Piles of rubble in each room and in the sprawling backyard lot.
Code enforcement officers posted a notice to abate the debris-strewn property in April. In August, a fire inspector declared the dwelling a fire threat.
"The structure was open and accessible to children and other persons and had large accumulations of combustible debris therein," wrote Robert Davis, a county fire inspector.
Davis expressed concerns about winds blowing flames next door to the Aegis Assisted Living Facility, home to some Alzheimer's patients. A city code enforcement team last month declared the place unsafe and unsanitary.
Police on Nov. 20 chased off a homeless man living inside who had apparently kept warm by building fires in a sink.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 4, orders the owners to immediately remove all junk and debris, secure the building and arrange to demolish it.
Jerry Magganas, a 51-year-old father of three, was loading garbage from the house into a truck Tuesday. He said he would comply with the order, which he said was spurred by bureaucratic wrangling.
"We don't want the eyesore here. We don't want to live with such a stigma," Magganas said.
Property records show that the Magganas brothers bought the house in September 2000 for $250,000.
Even after the house falls to the ground, the deal remains spectacular: The 19,760 square foot lot has nearly enough legal space for two houses.
Contra Costa Newspapers
Dec. 11, 2002
Jerry Magganas and his brother, Athan, call their rickety and crumbling house "Anastasia," a Greek word for reincarnation.
It is certainly going to take one to revive 1680 Oak Park Boulevard.
Pleasant Hill has sued the Greek brothers over the dilapidated and hazardous condition of their vacant digs, calling on the owners to hire a licensed contractor to tear it down.
It is the final word in a city tangle over the increasingly shabby look of the 53-year-old house, last occupied by a transient caught snoozing in a rear bedroom.
"Nine times out of 10, property owners comply over a period of time," said City Attorney Debra Margolis. "But this is the first time in my eight years here that we've had to file a lawsuit to do it."
Indeed, the four-bedroom house already looks like a wrecking ball has passed through its grungy hallways once or twice.
Holes gape in the ceiling. Cracks in the stucco. Smashed-out or boarded up windows. Rodent droppings. Piles of rubble in each room and in the sprawling backyard lot.
Code enforcement officers posted a notice to abate the debris-strewn property in April. In August, a fire inspector declared the dwelling a fire threat.
"The structure was open and accessible to children and other persons and had large accumulations of combustible debris therein," wrote Robert Davis, a county fire inspector.
Davis expressed concerns about winds blowing flames next door to the Aegis Assisted Living Facility, home to some Alzheimer's patients. A city code enforcement team last month declared the place unsafe and unsanitary.
Police on Nov. 20 chased off a homeless man living inside who had apparently kept warm by building fires in a sink.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 4, orders the owners to immediately remove all junk and debris, secure the building and arrange to demolish it.
Jerry Magganas, a 51-year-old father of three, was loading garbage from the house into a truck Tuesday. He said he would comply with the order, which he said was spurred by bureaucratic wrangling.
"We don't want the eyesore here. We don't want to live with such a stigma," Magganas said.
Property records show that the Magganas brothers bought the house in September 2000 for $250,000.
Even after the house falls to the ground, the deal remains spectacular: The 19,760 square foot lot has nearly enough legal space for two houses.
posted by Corey at 8:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home