Nassau Bay declares house tied to NASA history a public nuisance
A home in Nassau Bay owned by NASA astronauts for over 50 years is on the verge of being demolished if repairs aren’t made.
The home, 18410 Kingstown Court, doesn’t meet Nassau Bay’s occupancy code, according to city officials.
After an Aug. 23 inspection of the home, city officials declared the property a “public nuisance,” subject to demolition.
The city’s inspection of the property found a dilapidated and insecure structure, standing water in different areas of the house, a roof in need of replacement, a foundation that had settled by almost 2 inches, no drywall on most walls and ceilings, no flooring, high grass and debris and 10 other conditions that led to the public nuisance declaration.
“When a structure or equipment is found by the code official to be unsafe, unfit for human occupancy, or unlawful, such structure shall be condemned pursuant to the provisions of this code,” according to the city’s vacant or dilapidated structure code.
While the property no longer is in pristine condition, it does have historical significance due to two former astronauts living in the home during their time with NASA.
Astronaut James Irwin paid $45,000 for the home in 1972, a year after he became the eighth person to walk on the moon, city records show. Astronaut Mae Jemison paid $99,000 in 1987 for the home, five years before she became the first Black woman to go to space, according to a city agreement.
Jemison is the current owner of the property. The Chronicle’s attempts to contact Jemison for comment weren’t returned on Wednesday.
The city and Jemison’s legal counsels had “major differences” about what it would take to rehabilitate the home, Nassau Bay city attorney Dick Gregg, Jr. said during a Sept. 12 council meeting.
“We’ve accommodated her schedule related to the space program and we’ve scheduled a date to meet and talk,” Gregg said.
Both legal counsels met for a closed-doors-in-person discussion Oct. 6. During an Oct. 10 council meeting, city officials said Jemison’s lawyers provided a document detailing the work that needed to be done to the property to make it inhabitable by the end of October or early November.
A public hearing with Jemison is set for November so she and the city can resolve the occupancy code issues at the home, which has been uninhabitable since 2007, according to Nassau Bay Mayor Phil Johnson. Calls to Jemison’s lawyer were not immediately returned.
If both sides don’t come to an agreement on how to move forward with at least minimum repairs, the city will take legal action to demolish the property or allow a judge to decide what is code-compliant or inhabitable, Gregg said during the September council meeting.
“We’ll talk about a peaceful resolution,” Gregg said. “If we can resolve this by agreement, it’s in the city’s and owner’s best interest to do so.”