advertisements
News
City of Bartlesville
Posted: Feb 06, 2024 2:11 PMUpdated: Feb 06, 2024 2:22 PM
Council Upholds Public Nuisance Declaration on Former TECO Building
Nathan Thompson
The Bartlesville City Council upholds a hearing officer's order and declaration of a downtown building as a public nuisance.
The former TECO Home Appliance building, located at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Frank Phillips Boulevard, was purchased by Jay Mitchell in 2017. Since his purchase, the abandoned building has fallen into a state of dangerous disrepair. According to city documents, a citizen filed a complaint in August 2023 about the exterior condition of the building.
A Neighborhood Services supervisor investigated and inspected the property and found the complaint to be valid. Several notices were sent to Mitchell about the violations and multiple hearings were scheduled over the following months.
Mitchell failed to attend the hearings and the structure was declared a public nuisance by a hearing officer in December 2023, with an expectation that the property be repaired and brought up to code by April 2024.
In January, a representative of Mitchell filed an appeal of the decision to be heard by City Council on Monday. Mitchell, again, failed to attend the hearing. However, Mitchell sent an email to city staff one hour prior to the City Council meeting with several claims of impropriety.
City Manager Mike Bailey says the appeal was unusual in nature.
Mayor Dale Copeland concurred with Bailey.
The council denied Mitchell's appeal and held that the dilapidated state of the property must be mitigated by April.
« Back to News
