JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska judge ruled Juneau was within its rights to demolish an apartment building that caught fire twice and was declared a “public nuisance.”
Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg issued the ruling last week, saying the owners of the Gastineau Apartments did not do everything in their power to appeal the city’s public nuisance order in 2015, the Juneau Empire reported .
The city demolished the building in January 2016 at a cost of about $1.6 million. The city filed lawsuit against James and Kathleen Barrett and Gastineau Apartments LLC in March 2016, seeking to recoup the demolition costs. The case is headed for trial scheduled for August.
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The Friday ruling means Juneau has less to prove at trial, city attorney Amy Mead said.
“Without this decision, we would have had to go to trial that the building was a public nuisance - to establish the validity of the demolition order, and now both of those things have been decided,” Mead said.
The owners could have filed an appeal with the Building Code Board of Appeals after the property was declared a public nuisance, said Robert Palmer, an assistant municipal attorney. The Barretts did not file an appeal regarding the demolition.
Joe Josephson, the owners’ attorney, argued at the Friday hearing that filing an appeal to the board would have likely fallen on deaf ears.
The judge told the attorney there’s no evidence to support that claim.
“There’s no evidence that the board wouldn’t have held a real hearing, wouldn’t have had an open mind, wouldn’t have considered the record,” Pallenberg said. “Any arguments that Mr. Barrett or Ms. Barrett might have made, had they pursued the process, is really sheer speculation.”
The main issue the court will consider at trial is if the Barretts will have any personal liability for the demolitions costs, Mead said.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
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