Council to take legal action against 605 Pearl St. owner
The photographer who took this photo at 605 Pearl St. just a little more than a week ago observed a Boxer dog tied up on the property early Thursday afternoon. Orders to remedy the nuisance, blight and dangerous property issues there have gone unheeded as far back as 2016. (Photo by Art Smith)
605 Pearl St. sits near the intersection of Ward and Pearl Streets in Marietta. (Photo by Art Smith)
The backyard of 605 Pearl St. was filled with tires, wire fences and other discarded items when pictured late last month. (Photo by Art Smith)
The photographer who took this photo at 605 Pearl St. just a little more than a week ago observed a Boxer dog tied up on the property early Thursday afternoon. Orders to remedy the nuisance, blight and dangerous property issues there have gone unheeded as far back as 2016. (Photo by Art Smith)
605 Pearl St. sits near the intersection of Ward and Pearl Streets in Marietta. (Photo by Art Smith)
The backyard of 605 Pearl St. was filled with tires, wire fences and other discarded items when pictured late last month. (Photo by Art Smith)
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Marietta City Council passed an emergency measure Thursday night that authorizes City Law Director Paul Betram III to start legal proceedings against 605 Pearl St. owner John H. Parsons.
Council also approved an appropriation and transfer of funds ordinance, Ordinance 291, that includes $10,000 earmarked to handle the six-foot fence to be erected at The Compound.
Safety and Service Director Steve Wetz said Thursday afternoon that the fence had not been started yet because the city did not have enough money in the right account to handle the issue without a transfer and appropriation action from council.
Resolution 108, the resolution initiating legal action against Parsons on the part of the city, specifically mentions "two people having been arrested as recently as June 30" in connection with 605 Pearl St. The weekly reports from Marietta Police Department published by The Marietta Times for the period June 27 to July 3 show that Terri Seevers and Brian Miller were involved in a verbal argument in the area of 605 Pearl St. and police were called. Police told the two to stay away from each other and stop the disorderly conduct. About 20 minutes later, officers were dispatched again for a similar incident. This time, Seevers and Miller were both arrested for disorderly conduct cease and desist. Both were taken to Washington County Jail, given a copy of their Rule 4s (service of process documentation) and advised of their court date, according to the police report.
Resolution 108 details a lengthy list of actions and notices previously taken by the city and concludes that there is now no other choice than filing a lawsuit to seek "damages and/or injunctive relief … in an effort to have the nuisance, blighted and dangerous property abated."
The city will now seek to recoup money that will have to be spent on the fence, among other items related to damages. But the term "abatement" could be less cut and dried in terms of possible lawsuit results favoring the city.
"Abate" can mean "demolish," but it doesn't necessarily require it, according to Fourth Ward Councilman Geoff Schenkel, who chairs council's Planning, Zoning Annexation and Housing Committee.
"You can abate by cleaning up or by making necessary repairs to bring buildings and/or grounds back into compliance with the law. It will be up to the judge to evaluate what the violations are and how the violations are best resolved."
The structural condition of the building will most likely be taken into account in the overall evaluation of abatement options, Schenkel said.