By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
A dilapidated home that’s been vacant for about two years has been officially declared a public nuisance – and Yukon city officials are giving the property owner three months to make the house habitable.
The structure, in the 700 block of Kingston Drive, has been the target of complaints from residents in the Canadian Heights Addition.
The Yukon City Council on Jan. 18 voted unanimously to declare the house a public nuisance.
A Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities, Inc. trust – which has owned the foreclosed property since June 2020 – has been directed to repair the roof and take other corrective steps within 90 days.
Otherwise, the house will be demolished.
Dan Stake, a Kingfisher attorney representing the trust, said the owner had “no objection” to this directive and would “abate the nuisance” within 90 days.
Yukon’s city inspector has investigated complaints about the Kingston Drive site because of overgrown grass, weeds and dead trees. Several times, city crews have come out to mow and clean up the property.
The home’s roof also has partially collapsed.
As the property continued to deteriorate, the city inspector last October posted “Condemned” and “Danger” print notices and ran caution tape around the front of the house.
A TWO-YEAR CASE
“Approximately two years ago, the ceiling and the roof started sagging,” Yukon City Manager Tammy Kretchmar told the city council. “We have been working this case for two years. We have made several contacts. We have done abatement hearings. Of course, no owners or anyone has been there to talk about the property.”
A lien will be placed on the property for the costs incurred by the City of Yukon during this process, according to Kretchmar.
Attorney Stake acknowledged the Kingstone Drive property has been in disarray for “quite a while.”
“Part of it is because the previous owner of the property had it for a long time and allowed it to become that way,” he told city council members. “Then there was a foreclosure process. It’s difficult for a lender to do anything about the condition of property until it’s foreclosed.”
The foreclosure has been completed and personal property that was left inside the house by the previous owner has been removed, Stake noted.
“Now the owner – through its local agents – has taken possession of property,” Stake said. “They’ve done a little bit of work, which includes tarping the roof. Their plan is to go into the property and do a lot of rehabilitation work.
“Their goal is to re-sell it as a nice home here in Yukon.”
Vice Mayor Rick Cacini initially wanted the council to give the owner only 60 days to address issues with the site.
“All we want to see is the owner do something, rather than nothing in the last two years,” Cacini said.
Council members agreed to 90 days after citing “supply-chain” issues that may cause the repairs to take longer than normal.
