Property owner challenges citation

Commercial building not ‘vacant,’ developer says

A Lorain developer said the Lorain Fire Department wrongly cited him as the city looks to catalog vacant commercial buildings.

Broadway Revitalization LLC, a company of Lorain developer Gary Davis, is the owner of 668 Broadway.

In December, the company was cited for violating the city’s vacant commercial building registration, according to records at Lorain Municipal Court.

Building owners are required to log their vacant properties with the Lorain Fire Department, which compiles the registry so structures do not become public health nuisances.

The problem with the court case is that 668 Broadway is not vacant, said Davis and Luke Theall, who operates Broadwaves Studio, a recording space on the second floor of the building.

They appeared at Lorain Municipal Court for the Jan. 17 housing court docket, in which Magistrate Linda A. Webber handles citations for property code violations.

The case was rescheduled to a preliminary hearing Feb. 14.

Webber ruled Davis needs an attorney for the case because the building owner is a limited liability company.

“Can’t it just get dismissed?” Theall asked about the charges.

“No,” said city Assistant Law Director Don Zaleski.

“I’ve been there for two years,” Theall said. “This is as cut and dry as it gets.”

Davis and Theall came armed with copies of the occupancy permit issued Dec. 15, 2015, for Broadwaves Studio.

They also had a photo of the front of the building with the sign advertising it for rent for gatherings and parties.

The first-floor space has served as Democratic Party headquarters for several months and had an occupancy permit for the FireFish Festival last October, Davis and Theall said.

Firefighters inspected the building at least the last two years for the permits for FireFish, they said.

“It’s an occupied building,” Theall said. “It’s been occupied by me for two

years, at least. And two years before that, I have construction permits going back to 2013.”

The second floor of the building is undergoing renovation to become the BRIAR, or Black River Innovative Artist Residence, a studio space for visual and performing arts.

They argued no one from the city contacted them about the status of the building.

In court, Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Radman noted someone signed to accept the mailed violation notice sent last year.

The occupancy permit for FireFish was a temporary permit, said Radman, who declined additional comment because the case remains pending in court.

The space at 668 Broadway also does not meet the characteristics for “evidence of vacancy” outlined in city law for the vacant commercial property registry, Theall

said.

The city legislation said the evidence “means any condition that on its own or combined with other conditions present, would lead a reasonable person to believe the building is vacant.”

Conditions include low or no utility usage, overgrown or dead vegetation, accumulation of newspapers, mail and trash, abandoned cars and parts or boarded up windows.

“Vacant buildings usually don’t have shoveled sidewalks,” Davis said about the snowy conditions that day.

Davis added he is somewhat happy the city is cracking down on code enforcement for dilapidated buildings.

However, vacant houses tend to be more problematic than commercial buildings, he said, because people seldom break into unoccupied commercial buildings to live in, are more likely to break into homes.