By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The proprietor of Indian Valley LLC tangled with the Bucyrus City Board of Building Standards and Appeals and found himself a momentary reprieve.
Ron Worchester, owner of Indian Valley LLC, appealed notices of violation on eight properties and appeared before the board Tuesday morning to have his side told. The meeting did not get very far, however, when opposing attorneys began to clash over technicalities.
Paul Hoeffel of Kennedy Purdy Hoeffel & Gernert LLC, who was representing Worchester, argued that his client was only given a two-business-day notice of the meeting and moved to dismiss the violations on six of the eight properties due to the hearing not being held within 20 days of the notices. After allowing that the violation notices for the properties on 117 Wiley St. and 1204 High St. were within the scope of the hearing, Hoeffel then objected to the jurisdiction of the appeals. He argued that the board, which is comprised of the same members as the Board of Zoning Appeals, was not qualified to serve due to not having training in property maintenance.
Law Director Rob Ratliff noted that the members of both boards were set forth by the Bucyrus City Council.
“My question then is who determines who is qualified and who is not qualified,” asked board member Floyd Farmer. “I’ve done a ton of property maintenance and I think I can look at something and tell you whether it needs to be repaired or doesn’t need to be repaired.”
Hoeffel indicated that neither he nor his client received specifics on the violations referenced in the notices, though Farmer pointed out that he had a list of violations for the properties.
“This is premature,” Hoeffel said. “Mr. Worchester, from the very first letter, had responded to Mr. Grove (Bucyrus Code Office Gordon Grove), has met with Mr. Grove, has called him on numerous occasions to try to get matters resolved.”
Hoeffel added that Worchester met with Grove and Ratliff, which allegedly led his client to believe the issues were worked out.
Ratliff capped off the meeting by informing the board they contacted Worchester twice through email with an invitation to work things out and included a seven-month plan to bring the properties up to code. In both instances, according to Ratliff, Worchester declined to meet with them.
The Board of Building Standards and Appeals motioned to reschedule the meeting in order for both sides to iron out some issues.
The “Notice of Violation” of the International Property Maintenance Code pertained to the following properties: 303 Galen St. (127 1/1 N. Spring St.); 1204 High St.; 203 W. Mansfield St.; 217 W. Mansfield St.; 117 Wiley (119) St.; 814 Woodlawn Ave.; and 822 and 822 ½ Woodlawn Ave.
This was not the first time Worchester challenged violation notices with the Board of Building Standards and Appeals in relation to one of his properties. The city condemned a vacant building at 209 W. Mansfield St. in 2015 and Worchester appealed the demolition order in an effort to gain more time. The building was eventually torn down in May of 2015.
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