| PIN (Property ID#) | Number | Street Address | City |
| 23.29.22.34.0157 | 1901 | Maryland Ave E | St. Paul |
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 Database Last Refreshed
01-19-2013 05:29:00 Copyright 2003 Ramsey County Email: AskPropertyTaxandRecords@co.ramsey.mn.us |
| in progress or eyesore? City council orders raze and removal of Maryland Avenue duplex | ||||||||
news editor After a long battle, East Side property owner Michael Ahrndt will have to face defeat. The St. Paul City Council unanimously voted for the razing of the residential structure at 1901 Maryland Ave. E. at its April 4 meeting. It's safe to say the property at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Hazel Street is approaching notorious status, at least in the minds of neighbors, community members and city officials who have come in contact with it. The city classified the dwelling as a "nuisance structure," and neighbors say it has had a rundown appearance for years. "I don't contest that the outside is in need of a complete renovation," said Ahrndt, who purchased the property about 12 years ago. He said he's completely remodeled the interior but stopped short on the exterior since "it's quite obvious that there's a desire to not have the house there." Ahrndt now has 30 days to demolish the duplex or the city will do the job and send him the bill. 'Unsafe' The City of St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections registered the building vacant on Oct. 17, even though Ahrndt contended that he and a caretaker were still living in it. However, the building, which city officials said was being used illegally as a triplex, wasn't registered vacant because it was empty. It was condemned by fire inspectors and registered vacant because it was unsafe for anyone to live there, said Robert Humphrey of the city's Safety and Inspections department. According to city documents, a fire inspector discovered 29 "deficiencies" when the building was registered vacant, including exposed wiring and damaged electrical fixtures; a small 56-square-foot bedroom that was declared too small for sleeping purposes; obstructed exists and rooms with no windows; crumbling ceilings and walls; a permeable bathroom floor; a furnace tucked in a small hallway closet; and stashes of propane being stored inside the house. Fixing many of these problems would require a building permit. Safety and Inspections sent a notice to Ahrndt at a Scandia address listing the issues with the dwelling. The document also notified him the property's certificate of occupancy was revoked and the building needed to be vacated. When Safety and Inspections checked on the duplex early in September, there were no vacant and condemned placards posted and the inspector noted there was a chance someone was still living in there, according to inspection documents. When an inspector returned mid-month, there were still no placards on the building, and people could be seen inside. "Their claims of their condition of the property are completely not true," Ahrndt said in a recent interview. He said the dwelling has brand new ceilings, walls and floors as well as a fully remodeled kitchen. The unsafe wiring is all in the third unit, which was never used, and electricity to that part of the building was shut off, said Ahrndt. In fact, Ahrndt claimed one of the inspectors wanted to rent the property from him, but then condemned the building two months later. 'Neighbors felt abused' Inspectors started focusing on the property after receiving a citizen complaint last August, Humphrey said, but he knows of neighborhood complaints stretching back to at least 2005, when someone alerted the city about the appearance of the exterior of the duplex. "There's a long history to this property. There's been problems a long way back," Humphrey said. "We've been working with (the property owner) since then to try to do something with it." The last building permit issued for the structure was in 2009, but there have been at least eight complaints about the dilapidated state of the building since then, Humphrey said. Complaints over the years have included reports of the home falling into disrepair, unfinished roofing, crumbling siding, a broken garage door and work being done without a permit. "The neighbors felt abused. They felt as though he had very little respect for them," said Sue McCall, District 2's block club coordinator. "All the block clubs in that area said it ruined the area. It's an area of nice homes, except for that one. It's just really, really awful." McCall has been working at the District 2 Community Council for fours years, and the rundown state of 1901 Maryland Ave. E. was one of the very first things she ever heard from neighbors. "I had only been here for a few days and I drove around with fellow council members and that was one of the low points they treated me to," she said. "For a long, long time he's had orders to repair it," said community council executive director Chuck Repke. "It just went on and on and on, and it looked like he was never going to get it done." The North East Neighborhoods Development Corporation was interested in purchasing the property from Ahrndt when it became apparent he was struggling to fix it up, Repke said, but Ahrndt decided he wanted to continue with the repairs. Property lines Ahrndt believes the city's main issue with the house is that the property and portions of the house cross onto Furness Parkway green space, which is city parkland. St. Paul Parks and Recreation has been planning improvements for the swatch of grass stretching from Maryland Avenue to Larpenteur Avenue, just west of McKnight Road, for years. Now, residents with encroachments, including Ahrndt, have until the end of May to remove them, or the city will. In Ahrndt's case, the city did vacate a triangular slice of the park property so the line no longer cuts through parts of Ahrndt's building. However, Ahrndt says the property line still comes within 6 inches of the building at its closest, and his flowerbed and other landscaping still sits over the line on park land. Ahrndt said he first realized he had an issue 10 years ago when he got a parking ticket for parking in what he thought was his own driveway. Apparently, what he thought was his driveway was actually an easement on the adjacent parkland -- city-owned property. Ahrndt said he started to research the property and discovered that his lot wasn't what he thought. In fact, long before Ahrndt purchased the property, the home was built several feet over the property line onto park land. He contended that years of phone calls, letters and emails to the city in an effort to learn more about the property issue and possible solutions were in vain. Ahrndt asserted that no one responded or would cooperate with him. He halted renovations because of the uncertain future of the property and the city's lack of communication, he added. "Not knowing the city's position, would any of you, would anybody continue to invest dollars?" Ahrndt asked city council members at the recent public hearing on the potential demolition. "I would like to request that we move back a step from the position that you're about to take that will be extremely harmful to the community and reputation of the council." Ahrndt said the inspection reports contained "gross inaccuracies," and he didn't want his duplex to be demolished because of false information. The future Despite Ahrndt's plea, the council unanimously voted to have the duplex demolished and the rubble removed. "It's in such a state of disrepair, I don't know if it could even be fixed regardless of the amount of money you had," said city council member Dan Bostrom. The cost of razing dwellings this size is usually between $12,000 and $18,000, which is charged to the property owner. Many homes like this one are poorly constructed to start with, end up outliving their usefulness and can become money pits, Bostrom said. "These are the kinds of properties that begin to drag down prices of other houses in the neighborhood," he added. "A rotten apple spoils the barrel." Ahrndt will still own the land after it's been cleared of the building, and it's up to him what to do next. He could rebuild or he could sell the lot. Ahrndt said he doesn't know what he will do once the building is torn down, especially since the city has now left him with a property that he said can't be resold. "This is theft by swindle," he asserted, adding that the city hasn't proven its case as to why the building needs to be torn down. He also said it has yet to be explained to him what the raze and removal order means. If the city does end up demolishing the home, and Ahrndt doesn't pay the demolition bill, Ramsey County could seize the property. Then, the future of the lot adjacent to the park pathway could be up to the county. "It's a prominent corner, and when Furness Parkway is finished, it will be a fairly significant corner," Repke said. He hopes that, whatever happens, it will improve the view at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Hazel Street. "There will be block club leaders who will be very happy (to see the duplex torn down)," McCall said. "There will probably be people cracking champagne bottles." Kaitlyn Egan can be reached at kegan@lillienews.com or 651-748-7816.1901 Maryland Ave. East has been torn down, but its saga continues
Robert Humphrey, a spokesman for the Department of Safety and Inspections, said in an interview that the single-story house was structurally unsound and it generated frequent complaints from neighbors, who considered it a dangerous eyesore. Records show Ahrndt bought the property in August 1999 for $47,500. On Wednesday, Ahrndt appealed the $12,000 assessment to the city council, without success. There were plenty of fireworks coming from Ahrndt, but the most fiery of them emerged at the end of his testimony, right before he left a kind of verbal condemnation on the city council in the native Dakota language. His lengthy testimony is recorded on video, and listed under Item No. 42 on the City Council agenda. Ahrndt told the council, “My answer here, this matter is now turned over to divine judgment. God’s way shall rule, and I believe you shall, for the sake of your souls, council, come to see that God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts, and God’s ways are higher than your ways. The great spirit is absolute. So people of St. Paul, here me well. Awaken to what takes place right here before you. There is a great transformation underway. The wicked shall find no sanctuary. There shall be restitution. Reconciliation is near. The city of St. Paul, as you discover yourself under siege of the greatest of all powers, repent, I suggest. … Behold the power of God, lesser council. … I believe this self-serving behavior to be unforgivable. But that shall be your eternal business with God.” Then came the condemnation in Dakota. Ahrndt also asked the council members to resign immediately, and said “hundreds and perhaps even thousands of the extremely poor, completely despaired young children” would be deprived of his services by the tear-down. He started his appeal on more technical footing. Ahrndt said “this ludicrous, preposterous, completely absurd assessment brought against myself, my family, my ministry and those I care-give to, this fiendish surtax with its egotistical motives” was three times the size of demolition estimates he received for the tear-down from licensed contractors. He also said his “nonprofit foundation” purchased the small house more than a decade ago for care-giving and youth services. Green space associated with the Furness Parkway project directly abuts his house, and Ahrndt claims the road’s proximity made his house “unmarketable.” Kaitlyn Egan, news editor at the weekly East Side Review, delved into the ins and outs of Ahrndt’s long-running battle with City Hall in April 2012, and it’s worth a read, here. |
| RLH TA 12-164 | 4 | 44 | 559 McKnight Road South | Resolution LH Tax Assessment Appeal | Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for Real Estate Project No. J1207A1, Assessment No. 128520 at 559 MCKNIGHT ROAD SOUTH. (Public hearing continued from October 3, 2012) (To be laid over to December 17, 2013 Legislative Hearing and January 15, 2014 Council Public Hearing) | Not available |  Video |
| File #: | RLH TA 13-12 Version: | Name: | 1901 Maryland Avenue East |
| Type: | Resolution LH Tax Assessment Appeal | Status: | Mayor's Office |
| In control: | City Council |
| Final action: | 1/16/2013 |
| Title: | Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for Real Estate Project No. J1302C1, Assessment No. 132007 at 1901 MARYLAND AVENUE EAST. (Laid over from January 2, 2013) |
| Sponsors: | Dan Bostrom |
| Ward: | Assessments, Nuisance Abatement, Special Tax Assessments, Ward - 6 |
| Related files: | RLH AR 12-120 |
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| File #: http://stpaul.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=37&clip_id=2426&meta_id=190357 | RLH TA 13-12 Version: | Name: | 1901 Maryland Avenue East |
| Type: | Resolution LH Tax Assessment Appeal | Status: | Mayor's Office |
| In control: | City Council |
| Final action: | 1/16/2013 |
| Title: | Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for Real Estate Project No. J1302C1, Assessment No. 132007 at 1901 MARYLAND AVENUE EAST. (Laid over from January 2, 2013) |
| Sponsors: | Dan Bostrom |
| Ward: | Assessments, Nuisance Abatement, Special Tax Assessments, Ward - 6 |
| Related files: | RLH AR 12-120 |
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