Adopt Resolution #20-181 Approving Extension for Abatement at 8050 147th Ave NW

The purpose of this case is to review a request from John Leukam ("Property Owner") of the site at 8050 147th Ave NW ("Subject Property") for an extension of just over one month to the scheduled abatement for the Subject Property. The City Council approved abatement of the Subject Property at their July 28, 2020 City Council meeting.

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Summary of Actions to Date

• April 9, 2020: Notice of Violation sent - Property Owner states he did not receive this notice, though notice was never returned to City. $75 citation enclosed which Property Owner has requested be removed.
• June 3, 2020: Notice of Violation sent - Sent 2nd Notice of Violation direct to owner's home
• June 10, 2020: Notice of Violation sent - Started sending violation notices to both Subject Property and Property Owner's home address
• July 28, 2020: Council approved Resolution 20-160 Approving Abatement
• August 3, 2020: Staff reinspected the property and cataloged all items and photos per attached Abatement Notice
• August 11, 2020: Sent fully detailed Abatement Notice on with abatement scheduled for ~August 25, 2020
• August 19, 2020: Met with Property Owner and 3 tenants 
• August 19, 2020: Received request from property Owner for extension through end of September 2020

Abatement Notice

• Approximately sixty (60) vehicles listed on abatement notice to be removed (e.g. junk vehicles, expired tabs)
• Approximately nine (9) miscellaneous items listed on abatement notice including tires, junk vehicle parts, trailers, metal items, and other equipment

Uses Onsite

• Two trucking companies (lease from Property Owner)
  • Note: These companies understand the severity of the abatement notice and the vast majority of the items onsite are not related to these companies, but instead related to their sub-leaser whose use is noted below. The trucking companies are moving to another location and have put a firm date in place (September 30, 2020) for when they will be entirely off the site.
• Vehicle cannibalization (sub-lease from trucking companies) that dismantles and ships vehicles to Africa in cargo containers.
  • Note: This is not an allowed use anywhere in the City of Ramsey and the tenant has requested time to remove the items from the site but does not have another location leased at this time. The sub-leaser has not been able to give a firm date on when items would be fully removed from the site.

Staff has not seen any progress onsite, but the Property Owner and Trucking Tenants have indicated to Staff that they have removed a few vehicles from the Subject Property, including some personal storage items onsite (e.g. cars and boats), and would continue removing items to show progress by next Wednesday, August 26.

Leases
The Property Owner does not have a lease with the vehicle 'cannibalizer' onsite, but instead one of his tenants subleases space to this user. The Property Owner has terminated the lease with the trucking companies, and the leases will end September 30, 2020. The Property Owner has requested this extension in order to fulfill the lease agreement he has with his tenants.

Proposed Compromise

1. Staff reinspects the Subject Property on August 26, 2020
2. If more than twenty-five (25) vehicles or pieces of equipment remain that are not in compliance with City Code standards, Staff will remove items until the number reaches 25.
3. Staff will send a follow up notice with $250 citations for each tenant on August 26, 2020 if the Subject Property is not in compliance.
4. Staff will reinspect the property on September 17, 2020 (two weeks before deadline) and issue an abatement notice for all items remaining onsite.
5. Abatement will take place on October 1, 2020.

Staff requested that the Property Owner waive any right to appealing these violations and agree to this process, though this agreement was not included in the written request to Staff (attached). The proposed compromise scenario would get the Subject Property into compliance before freeze, but would be approximately six (6) months from start to finish.

Staff anticipates that the extension will require a few additional hours of staff time to reissue letters and communicate with contractors and to be onsite during abatement on October 1, 2020 (if needed).

Alternatives
Alternative 1: Approve the extension as drafted in the attached resolution, which includes an inspection on Wednesday, August 26 to ensure progress is being made onsite and a removal of all items by September 30, 2020. Staff is comfortable with this approach as the Property Owner has ended the lease with the tenants, thereby ending the sublease agreement as well. The Property Owner is supportive of this approach.
Alternative 2: Tow all damaged vehicles or cannibalized vehicles on August 26, 2020 as planned and allow the trucking company and other items to remain onsite with a removal deadline of September 30, 2020. This would essentially remove the cannibalization use from the property and remove the majority of the issue items. Staff could be supportive of this alternative if the Council supported it.
Alternative 3: Continue with the abatement of the site entirely on August 26, 2020 as previously directed by the City Council.

Please note that towing vehicles does not charge the Property Owner, instead Northstar Towing charges the vehicle owner at pickup. The Property Owner would be assessed for any items (e.g. junk, tires, pallets, metal pieces, car pieces) that needed to be abated by Reshetar Systems on October 1, 2020. This is true of all alternatives. 

Staff handles all Code Enforcement as part of regular duties. Staff estimates that they have spent approximately ten (10) hours on this case so far and that the proposed compromise would take only a few more hours of staff time.

Staff could be supportive of the compromise if the City Council wishes to work with the Property Owner as written. Staff could also be open to an alternative that tows all inoperable or damaged vehicles on August 26, 2020 (original abatement date) and allows the trucking company and their items to remain onsite through the end of September 2020 to finish their lease agreement. This would completely remove the vehicle cannibalization use and the majority of the problem items from the site in a more immediate fashion.

Staff does note that the City Council has already authorized abatement of the Subject Property, and the formal appeal timeframe expired fourteen (14) days after the first notice of violation.

Motion to Adopt Resolution 20-181.