Cedar Rapids officials shut down second nuisance residential property

CEDAR RAPIDS - For the second time in a month, the city has shuttered a 'nuisance” residential property and forced residents to leave until the owner complies with the city housing regulations.

This time, city building officials placed a placard on a house at 1528 L St. SW on Wednesday morning and gave the home's occupants the rest of the day to remove their belongings, said Amanda Grieder, nuisance property abatement coordinator with the city's SAFE-CR program.

The L Street SW home was owner-occupied and not a rental property. The City Assessor's Office lists the property owner as Virginia Chavez.

According to Grieder, the city had received 10 citizen complaints about the L Street SW house which the city's Building Services Department has investigated since October 2012. City staff found the property owner in violation nine of the 10 times. The complaints included solid-waste, zoning, housing and weed issues.

Grieder said the city's decision to place a placard on the house and require residents to leave came after 'various code violations.” Those included a deteriorated roof; unsanitary conditions in the house; garbage throughout the house; and a variety of plumbing issues, including a sanitary-sewer pipe leaking from the ceiling and walls. The home's unsanitary conditions included dog feces, she said.

'This property has been in court for prior violations and conditions were not safe, necessitating the city response,” Grieder said.

She said the city has identified 99 nuisance properties as part of the SAFE-CR program, which began last October. Most of the 99 have brought their properties into compliance, she said.

A month ago, the city shuttered a nuisance property at 110 16th St. NE. In that instance, the property was a rental property and tenants had to find somewhere else to live.

'The last thing the city wants to do is have people need to leave their home,” Grieder said. 'However, when there are numerous issues that affect health, safety and welfare of the occupants or neighborhoods, then the city has the responsibility to act.”