City of Salina marks three buildings as dangerous structures, including a hotel

Though the exact number of dangerous buildings in Salina is hard to know, the city does what it can to make sure those within its limits are dealt with.

Sean Pilcher, building official for the city, said as his department goes around the city or hears from residents about structures that might be in disrepair, it begins the process of figuring out what to do.

"Currently, I'm keeping an eye on and running through the process, as budget allows, of 23 (such buildings)," Pilcher said.

Pilcher said, while he wants to make sure structures are in compliance with relevant building codes, the office does so in a reasonable timeframe and manner.

"We start off by sending them a Dangerous Structures Violation notice," Pilcher said, "That let's them know (they) have so many days to get ahold of us, discuss (and) work on a plan (to resolve the issue)."

If it can't be handled this way, there are other steps that can be taken, including moving all the way up to the City Commission, which can deem a structure dangerous and require the owner to repair or remove the building in a set timeframe, after which the city will do it and require the owner to pay the expenses.

Pilcher said his office is more than willing to do what it can to resolve the issue.

"The City Commission is kind of a last-ditch effort," Pilcher said. "We want to give the property owner every chance we can to do it themselves, because I don't want to tear somebody's house down."

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This last resort was taken recently as the Salina City Commission looked at three such structures during its May 9 meeting, including a motel building north of Interstate 70.

Fire damage makes a building even more dangerous

The motel building, located at 244 E. Diamond Drive, just east of North Ninth Street, was brought to the attention of Building Services as early as May 2018. At the time the building was abandoned and city staff found the doors had been broken into and lived in by people without homes.

On Dec. 10, 2021, the building caught fire and Pilcher said there was major damage, and a dangerous structure notice was sent to the listed owner of the property. After staff did not hear from the owner, the process began, starting in February.

The commission heard from Ankit Patel, the listed owner of the property and his attorney, Michele O’Malley.

"In December of 2016, Mr. Patel and his company...sold this property and the adjacent hotel-motel," O'Malley said.

The sale of this property has not been officially completed, and O'Malley said Patel learned of the fire after the city called, and he has not been able to contact the buyer of the property.

O'Malley said Patel understands that the city wants the issue resolved and that the building needs to be demolished and removed.

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Working together to resolve the issue in a timely manner

The city usually requires work to begin on repairing or removing dangerous structures within 30 days of the commission deeming a property dangerous and another 30 days after that to have work completed, but O'Malley said that timeframe really won't work, as licensed contractors are backlogged with other jobs and work likely couldn't begin for at least five months.

"We use the 30 and 60-day (timeframes) as a sort of static, boilerplate thing, and that can kind of move around from there depending on the needs of the city and the needs of the property owner," Pilcher said to the commission.

The commission seemed to be willing to make some changes to the timeframe, with commissioner Mike Hoppock saying he understands the volatility of the construction and demolition industry.

In the end, the commission decided to give Patel 60 days to secure a contract with a contractor for demolition, 150 days to begin the demolition and 180 days to have the work substantially completed.

Other buildings also considered dangerous by the commission

In addition to the motel building, two additional buildings in Salina, at 615 S. Ninth St., and 619 S. Santa Fe Ave. were also deemed to be dangerous structures by the city commission.

With this designation, the two buildings will also be required to be repaired or demolished by the owners.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina willing to work with property owners on dangerous structures