dolly partin
Assistant Editor
Northeast resident and rental property owner Joseph Quinn is on the dance floor with multiple city departments seeking resolution for a property he doesn’t own.
The property is a six-story apartment building located about 6 feet west of a home owned or rented by Mr. Quinn, whose east wall began bulging outward toward his property last fall. I noticed that there were signs of structural problems.
Quinn called the 311 response center and reported the issue at 3236 Anderson in October 2023. When the inevitable happened on January 19th, the case still remained unsolved. The bulging walls collapsed, leaving large holes in the walls and piles of brick, windows and chunks of plaster on Quinn’s rental property.
By that time, Quinn had done more than just call 311. He contacted the building’s owner, Birdcage Enterprises LLC, his city council staff and the code inspector assigned to the case.
Fed up with the lack of action, Quinn contacted Northeast News. I took photos of the damaged buildings and published my opinion on the situation in the February 14 issue under the title, “If a building wall collapses in the city, will anyone hear the sound?”
The building was declared unsafe on Tuesday, Feb. 27, according to 311 Parcel Viewer, a web page that provides access to open code lawsuits. Spokeswoman Sherae Honeycutt said at least three families were still living in the building at the time. For the City Manager’s Office.
Honeycutt said the process for reporting unsafe conditions would be easier if the owner of the six-family home had enrolled the property in the Healthy Housing Program, which is mandatory for all rental properties in Kansas City. I explained that it would be fine.
If a property is deemed unsafe, the property owner will have 48 hours to obtain a demolition contract on their own, or the city will put out a bid. Honeycutt said the building is or will be demolished by March 15, barring any delays due to the bidding process, weather or other circumstances. The latest information was published in the March 13th issue.
Quinn was concerned about a building of that size being demolished and what steps would be taken to protect her property, but at least the situation is finally coming to an end. I was relieved.
But please don’t take off your shoes. This slow dance isn’t over yet.
Birdcage Enterprises LLC requested a halt to demolition to determine the scope of repairs. The entire building was covered with orange safety netting, and a large particle board fence was erected and erected against Quinn’s property to “protect” it from falling bricks and other objects. Various crews came and went, but no one came to remove the debris from January’s collapse from Quinn’s property.
A request from Northeast News to find out what permits were issued came after Quinn told us that neither the code inspector nor the contractor who was on site responded to Quinn’s text messages. It was submitted to the city’s media department on April 26. Much of this information is normally available through the 311 Parcel Viewer, but like most city departments, this webpage has been inaccessible since earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Quinn’s tenant, a single mother with three children, moved out, citing an unstable relationship with the property next door and concerns about safety. Given the current situation, in addition to the loss of income from his property, there is no telling how long it will take to find a new tenant. And because the city’s computer system is down, Bulky Pickup Co. can’t even schedule a date, so they can’t even clean the building she left behind.
Unlike Jackson County, which quickly informed residents of the problem when its computer system went down last month, Kansas City essentially told residents nothing until a press conference on May 15, weeks after the problem surfaced. The cause of the problem was not mentioned. . Several departments are affected, particularly Compass KC, the city’s online permit site. Contractors cannot obtain permits to start work or inspections to continue work, even if they already have permits, because everything is handled online rather than in person at City Hall.
Meanwhile, repairs have essentially come to a standstill, with the gaping hole on the east side of the building not even being reinforced to prevent further collapse. For now, Quinn and the Northeast News are waiting patiently as this dangerous building-shuffling dance marathon drags on.
