View Full Version : Del City Punished



Thunder
11-04-2010, 05:20 AM
Well, this is what Del City gets for condemning a good complex. We shouldn't feel bad for the city now, after all they did force people out of their homes.


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.

http://newsok.com/condemned-apartments-cost-del-city/article/3506394

I hope the city loses the lawsuit.

bombermwc
11-04-2010, 07:09 AM
Blah blah blah. you still have your head up your butt about this huh. So you enjoyed living somewhere that the owner was letting delapidate to crap huh. Nice to know your neighbors weren't actually living in a mold ridden filth bucket.

Del City had every right to do it and I'm sure you'll see that 99% of this forum agrees that they are glad they did. This guy is crap and he deserves to not be allowed to treat del city like crap. Del City will win. They should sue him for ongoing costs too.

bandnerd
11-04-2010, 08:44 AM
What about this place is good? A dead transient, a fire, police calls...the building is condemned. Tear it down.

jmarkross
11-04-2010, 09:13 AM
"This Property Is Condemned"...wasn't that a Natalie Wood movie???

BBatesokc
11-04-2010, 10:39 AM
Cities don't take condemning property lightly. In most cases it takes years of the owners refusing to cooperate with the city before such measures are taken. Its a measurable tax loss to the city, utilities, surrounding businesses etc. Both the properties mentioned in the story were on the news and had complaints filed by residence on a regular basis. No one is to blame except the property owner.

Steve
11-04-2010, 10:58 AM
Thunder, I know you appreciate being as knowledgeable on a topic as possible, so I'm very happy to assume that before you can reach a full conclusion on this matter you're going to move into a complex owned by Jogani before issuing a final report on all that Del City has done wrong here. Thanks for all your expert insight on this matter.

Thunder
11-04-2010, 11:48 AM
I just don't see how Del City can condemn the entire complex. They can condemn a few buildings in the way back, but the majority of the complex was in great shape. Del City is suffering even more after condemning the place and now they are paying so much more to even maintain it.

jmarkross
11-04-2010, 12:03 PM
Personally...when I played football in Jr. High at Norman Central...we got cheated on a late drive at Del City Kerr and lost the game and ever since then--it is FINE with me if Del City is PUNISHED!!

easternobserver
11-04-2010, 06:56 PM
so funny. again, thunder, you are an idiot. people were falling through the floors.

Millie
11-04-2010, 07:26 PM
Thunder, I bet if you called the city they would give you special permission to move back in.

Redskin 70
11-04-2010, 08:33 PM
so you think it ok that the TAX PAYERS of Del City would have to pay if the CIty Lost the Law suit, cause thats just what will happen Jack, The judgment will be levied against ALL property owners of Del City, and for what, a slum lord Californian who sucked the life out of the property and then fled the country...........Dude, get a life, and if you want to move back into Logan go ahead, There IS NO PROPERTY OWNER NOW TO KICK YOU OUT and eh police wont.

redrunner
11-04-2010, 08:45 PM
Del City is a dump. Thunder please stay away from OKC. We don't want the riffraff coming over.

Redskin 70
11-05-2010, 06:32 AM
Del City is a dump. Thunder please stay away from OKC. We don't want the riffraff coming over.

You must be a north sider huh...........stay there us south side boys dont like you snotty northsiders coming around either.........:demonslay

redrunner
11-05-2010, 08:01 AM
You must be a north sider huh...........stay there us south side boys dont like you snotty northsiders coming around either.........:demonslay

That's fine. The only time I cross the south side is when I'm going to Dallas.

metro
11-05-2010, 09:04 AM
Thunder, the complex was a dump and you can't do anything to stop it, let it go. Half of Del City's apartment complex's are abandoned, neglected or a dump. Let some economic development move back in these razed eyesores.

Thunder
11-05-2010, 09:51 AM
We still got a complex just down the street. I think it is named Grand Hill. They take good care of it. We can only hope the city do not go after them. Affordable rent, I may consider moving there in 2012.

jmarkross
11-05-2010, 10:16 AM
An oddity...Oklahoma City is the only city I have ever been to that allows so much dilapidation to occur before forcing improvements. There needs to be rather more stringent code enforcement or something. That's why slumlords with money leave L.A. and come to OKC, I suspect. And--they also need to jettison scumbags who live like pigs and place them into farms with pens to live in.

BBatesokc
11-05-2010, 02:48 PM
We still got a complex just down the street. I think it is named Grand Hill. They take good care of it. We can only hope the city do not go after them. Affordable rent, I may consider moving there in 2012.

What would make you even think the city would target that property? Sounds like it's the complete opposite of the ones that were targeted.

easternobserver
11-05-2010, 04:52 PM
The Grand Hill project is not in Del City. It is in Oklahoma City. Never been in there, hear it is very scary. Remember hearing that stolen cars from all over the metro tend to end up here. Sounds sort of like Oakridge Village on Bryant in Del City. In my opinion, the City needs to work on getting rid of that hellhole before worrying about anything else.

Millie
11-05-2010, 05:52 PM
The Grand Hill project is not in Del City. It is in Oklahoma City. Never been in there, hear it is very scary. Remember hearing that stolen cars from all over the metro tend to end up here. Sounds sort of like Oakridge Village on Bryant in Del City. In my opinion, the City needs to work on getting rid of that hellhole before worrying about anything else.

Sounds right up Thunder's alley, then!

Thunder
11-05-2010, 08:47 PM
The Grand Hill project is not in Del City. It is in Oklahoma City. Never been in there, hear it is very scary. Remember hearing that stolen cars from all over the metro tend to end up here. Sounds sort of like Oakridge Village on Bryant in Del City. In my opinion, the City needs to work on getting rid of that hellhole before worrying about anything else.

Actually, the police need to work on stopping crimes. It happens everywhere. People said crap about Eagle Point, but I felt totally safe there without anything bad happening. People shouldn't really listen to lame rumors.

plmccordj
11-07-2010, 10:03 AM
Oakridge Village apartments are known for crime but if they are structurally sound, there is nothing the city can do as far as getting it condemned. I can recall four shootings off the top of my head. I use to live in a house North of there behind Midwest Trophy and I have heard the gun shots from that complex from my house. I know the Mayor of Del City and he is a good guy. I know it may seem like they are being mean by condemning these places but he and the council are just trying to improve the quality of life there. As another poster said, "Del City is a Dump". They are trying to improve things there and improve the reputation. Since Del City is surrounded by other cities, land is hard to come by. A lot of the older homes are being taken over by the "I BUY HOMES" companies and they are renting them out as section 8 houses with no maintenance.

The city has recently implemented a new "occupancy permit" law where any time the house changes tenants or owners, the city must come and inspect electric, structure, sewer, and water. If the city does not certify that the home is worthy, then a new tenant cannot move in. We had some real losers next door that would party all night with the stereo blasting all night. They were mostly teenagers and would drink and smoke pot out in the front yard all the time. None of them had jobs and the police would be over there all the time. As soon as they would move out, we would get another group just like them. We would just pull our hair out because it seemed that each tenant would be worse than the last. Now that Del City has this occupancy permit in place, the slum lord has to clean the place up and keep up regular maintenance before moving in some more losers. In time, the slum lord will not make much money with these section 8 people trashing the places and will need to have a little bit better tenants if they would like to make any money at all. When we sold our house in July, the new buyers had to get a new occupancy permit before they could move in. We negotiated repairs that the city found.

Although it may seem like the city is harassing the citizens, there is a purpose. They are trying to improve quality of life for those that actually are good citizens by setting minimum standards. They have a hard job ahead of them and I wish them the best because I grew up in Del City and will always consider it home. My dad still lives there and I think he deserves better. I think the Del City leaders deserve a huge pat on the back for the seemingly insurmountable task they have on their backs. Mayor Brian Linley is a genuine, thoughtful person that truly does have the best interests of the citizens of Del City at heart.

Paul

bombermwc
11-08-2010, 06:49 AM
What a lot of people don't realize, is that there are also still new homes being built all over Del City as well. No, there aren't super new supdivisions going in like other areas, but even off Bryant on the outskirts of DC, there are new homes up and down the street. One thing you can see in DC, is that when a home burns, they rebuild it. That's something to be said for the people that live there...they like it enough to stay. Like any other city, they have parts that are better than others. But as far as apartments go, sorry Thunder, you are as wrong as you can be and we're never going to be able to convince you of it. You have a unique perspective on many things in life, one we don't generally understand, but hey, that's what America is all about.