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We all thought we had an abiding problem at 1603 Claremont until we saw Gordon Hickey's articles in the Times-Dispatch about the Murphy Hotel Annex:
The subject of the stories is the Murphy Hotel Annex, which the City calls the "tree building." John remembers a tree growing from the upper story in the ‘80’s; he called it the "hanging garden of Richmond." Now Gordon Hickey reports that the roof and upper stories are rotted through, and the upper floors are deep in bird poop.
According to Hickey, the City has "been trying for years" to resolve the problem. It was not until 1994 that a piece of falling building hurt a pedestrian. It was not until this year, apparently, that the City sent the owners a threat of legal action. Some record of "trying."
Hickey reports that the structure has "been cited for violating the building code at least four times dating to 1995." In April the city finally "condemned it and ordered it torn down."
Hickey continues by reporting that the City lacks the resources to tear down the structure, and that it is baffled by the corporate ownership that seems to prevent action against the actual owner.
Here are the stories:
How the clean air of public exposure finally got some action
And how the threat to sue finally got results. They could have threaened to sue years ago, and most likely had the same result. Filing suit, however, takes work, and work is anathema to our Building Commissioner.
This is Building Commissioner Cooper in full cry: He is glad to thump his chest and cry "violation," but he is impotent in the face of an owner who is not impressed by thumps, at least until somebody like Council gets on his case. See the pages regarding 1410 Avondale Avenue and 1603 Claremont Avenue if you have any residual suspicion that this is an overstatement.
[The lawyers among you might want to read Justice Kinser’s opinion in Greenberg v. Commonwealth, __ Va. __ (April 17, 1998) for the roadmap to now to prosecute the individual owners. See, also, the public nuisance statute at Code § 48.1 et seq., and the ancient principle that you 'll never know whether the corporation has the money until you sue it. Finally, see the City's abundant civil authority at Code §§ 15.2-900, 15.2-1115, and 36-49.1:1, which will be more useful in most cases than all the criminal statutes in the Code.]
Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher