Pine Tree Plaza owner goes to trial in March

Facing 83 misdemeanor counts of maintaining a public nuisance over the condition of the Pine Tree Plaza in Troy, owner Charles Curtis is scheduled to have a day in court on Wednesday, March 13.

Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Josh Nemeth filed the complaint in Lincoln County Justice Court on October 19.

Each day that the Pine Tree Plaza remains in its current state counts as an additional violation, Nemeth said. The charge of misdemeanor maintaining a public nuisance allows for a maximum of a $500 fine for each violation.

The 83 counts Curtis faces are for the days that passed between June 29 and the court filing.

Nemeth said he will most likely not amend new counts to the complaint until after the omnibus hearing, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 27.

Health Department Director Kathi Hooper said she still hopes Curtis will work with offers of help he has received from the community. She would prefer a remedy that did not come from the court.

Drawn out

Lincoln County Health Officer Dr. Brad Black first sent an abatement letter to Curtis on June 1, giving him 14 days to comply with the order to remove the structure and all debris.

The letter stated that the condition of the Pine Tree Plaza was “detrimental to the public health.”

The specific complaint was, “debris and remnants of structure after the 2013 fire which creates public nuisance and public health, safety and environmental hazards.”

Those hazards were stated as, “debris spreading to neighboring properties, unrestricted access and harborage for vectors of disease.”

During a City-County Board of Health meeting Wednesday, Black reiterated the danger presented by the ease of access children could have to the interior of the building. Even though the building was originally boarded up after the fire, the back is now open as the building continues to deteriorate.

Curtis was allowed an extension to July 20, Hooper said in July. He did come with a plan before the June 14 deadline, but one that Hooper was unable to approve, so he was given more time.

When Curtis did not reach an agreement with the health department to comply in a way that met with state and local health guidelines, the matter was sent to the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office.

In the affidavit of probable cause accompanying the court filing, Nemeth stated that, “the County Attorney has determined that this condition endangers safety or health, is offensive to the senses, and obstructs the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, amounting to a public nuisance.”

During his first appearance in court November 7, Curtis pleaded “not guilty” to maintaining a public nuisance, and requested a bench trial, Hooper said.

Background

At the regular meeting of the Troy City Council on June 20, Mayor Dallas Carr said the city asked the health department to take action only after multiple attempts over several months to work with Curtis.

One arrangement would have offset the cost of tearing down and removing the Pine Tree Plaza by Curtis giving a portion of the property to the city.

“It’s an eyesore. It has to go. It’s been five years now,” Carr said.

The building is leaning against the fence of a neighbor’s friend, Carr said. That neighbor has to keep a rake in the yard for cleaning up debris that falls off of the building and onto his property.

“Every time the wind blows, he’s out there,” said council member T.J. Boswell.

“He has sweet kids — two little kids — and it’s getting unsafe,” Carr said.

Carr said that he and council member Chuck Ekstedt have both talked to Curtis multiple times over the course of months.

“We’ve given him options to have land to live on, a house to live in, and live out whatever he chooses to do,” Carr said. “We’ve given him several scenarios that would benefit him.”

Ekstedt said that Curtis has been presented with multiple options that would not cost Curtis anything.

“It’s time. The people don’t need to look at that anymore,” Carr said. “It’s unsafe. That’s the first thing. It’s unsafe.”

The health department had also explored involving Tara Adams — who Curtis is purchasing the property from under contract — Hooper said. However, they discovered that Adams would have no legal standing unless Curtis defaulted on his contract.

Otherwise, Curtis has sole ownership of the property.

Curtis’s bench trial in Lincoln County Justice Court is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13.