HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-04-06 CA Ltr to Hellerman's - Yard Clean Up 30-Day Notice E C KBERG www.eckberglammers.cam
Writer's Direct Dial:
LAIVIMERS (651)351-2134
ATTORNEYS AT LAW Writer's E-mail:
KSandstrom @eckberglammers.com
April 6, 2015 Reply to Stillwater
Via Personal Service
Wayne& Lynne Hellerman
15105 63rd Street North
Oak Park Heights,MN
Re: City of Oak Park Heights v. Wayne&Lynne Hellerman
Our File No: 01501-26474
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Heileman:
Please be advised that this office is the City Attorneys for the City of Oak Park Heights. We are
following up on City Staff's attempts to stimulate you to clean up your property at 15105 63'1 Street
North. Efforts to do so over the past year have been unsuccessful. The City sent you a formal notice to
rectify the nuisance condition of your property on February 11, 2015, and compliance
inspections on March 23,2015 found that your property y remains non-compliant.
The matter has now been forwarded to
our office for legal action.
Over the past year,your property has routinely had numerous items of junk and refuse in the driveway
and yard, including but not limited to:junk vehicles, a boat and trailer,junk motorcycle, numerous
bicycles,old tires, an old air conditioner,pallets,yard tools, lawn mowers, a snow blower,pipes, lumber,
old windows,old doors, old construction materials,boxes, buckets, tools, furniture, tarps, an old
mattress,and numerous other items of debris, trash, and refuse. You are hereby advised that the
condition of your property is in violation of City and State nuisance and hazardous condition regulations,
including but not limited to the following:
1. Violation of Oak Park Heights City Code Chapter 1109 prohibiting nuisances, which includes
"any thing, act,or use of property which shall annoy, injure, or endanger the health, safe ty,
comfort or repose of the public, offend public decency, or depreciate the value of property
City's inhabitants"or"An accumulation of tin cans,bottles, or trash or debris of any e orhe
description: and the throwing, dumping or disposing of any dead animals,manure, garbage,
waste,decaying matter, ground, sand, stones, ashes,rubbish, tin cans, or other material or debris
of any kind on private property;"or""The piling, storing or keeping old machin
junked, or inoperative vehicles, and other junk or debris." gar, wrecked,
2. Violation of Oak Park Heights City Code Chapter 1301 prohibiting the parking, keeping,placing,
storing,repairing, abandonment, or dismantling of vehicles on the exterior of any public or
private property in the City.
Stillwater Office
1809 Northwestern Avenue Hudson Office
Stillwater, MN 55082 430 Second Street
Phone:651-439-2878 Hudson,WI 54016
Fax:651-439-2923 Phone:715-386-3733
Fax:715-386-6456
April 6, 2015
Page 2 of 2
3. Violation of Oak Park Heights City Code Chapter 401 prohibiting the exterior storage of
unlicensed or inoperable vehicles, prohibiting the exterior accumulation of refuse, and
prohibiting the exterior storage of various materials or equipment.
4. Violation of Minnesota Statutes § 609.74 and 617.81, which prohibit public nuisances, defined as
any conduct or condition of property that"unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the safety,
health,morals, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members of the public."
5. Violation of Minnesota Statutes § 168B.04 for the exterior storage of junk vehicles.
6. Violation of Minnesota Statutes § 463.15 et seq, which prohibits hazardous properties, defined as
any property condition, which,because of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation,physical
damage,unsanitary condition, or abandonment, constitutes a fire hazard or a hazard to public
safety or health.
The City hereby directs and orders you to clean up the exterior of your property to remedy the violations
of the aforementioned City Code and State Statutes within the next 30 days. Everything in your yard
needs to be cleaned up and either discarded or stored inside of a building, other than properly licensed
and operable vehicles, appropriate outdoor patio furniture, neatly stacked firewood, and a clothesline.
You are hereby advised that City Codes and State Statutes will permit the City to enter your property and
remedy the hazardous and nuisance condition of the property if you fail to remedy it yourself within the
next 30 days. If you do not rectify the condition of your property, the City will commence a lawsuit
against you seeking an order from the District Court permitting the City to undertake the work itself. All
costs associated with the City's efforts to remediate your property will be charged to you and assessed
against your property, including any and all court costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the City in doing
so.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
416A AA t
evvveb
Kevin S. Sandstrom
KSS/kss
c: Eric Johnson, City Administrator