PLYMOUTH — In July of 2024 the plight of the property at 309 Kingston Road in Plymouth began when Plymouth Building Inspector Dennis Manuwal had given the owner Bob Richards, 30 days for the resolution of the issues as part of his emergency order to vacate on July 29, 2024, due to roof and electrical issues that made the facility dangerous.
Monday, Manuwal was before the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety for a hearing on a final action for demolition of the property within the next 30 days, and once again, the story took another turn.
Richards and Anthony Collins were allowed to present their evidence during the hearing. They asked the board for another delay to finish the final work necessary to be up to code.
Manuwal was asked to give a brief recap of the actions that had led to the demolition order, which included several violations and reports of people living or “squatting” at the property that was closed, finally resulting in the death of an individual on the property, with evidence that he had been residing there illegally.
Collins spoke to the board, saying they had taken action each time to evict squatters and replace locks, adding that they couldn’t be at the property daily to be sure there were no infractions and that they couldn’t be held responsible for the illegal acts of others. He informed the board he had been sick for two weeks, and taken a week’s vacation, and had not been inside the property during that time. It was also revealed that the deceased man found on the property had been employed by the group to make the final repairs to the building and had not been given permission to reside on the property.
It was also noted that the man’s death was not caused by anything related to the building or work at the site, but by a previous medical condition.
Collins told the board that the work at The Pointe was essentially complete except for a final removal of two pieces of drywall for the remediation of mold and a final air quality test. He stated that Richards, who suffered a stroke several years ago, had sold another of his properties to pay for repairs at The Pointe, which Collins said were in excess of $300,000. He said that the goal of Richards was to get the property to code, settle a current lawsuit regarding the former tenants, and sell the property. He said that Richards did not plan to reopen the property in the interim or himself in the future. He told the board that it seemed a shame to pay to demolish a property that with a small amount of work could easily be made livable space.
Board members Dave Morrow and Don Ecker were not given to award the extra time since a year had already passed without completion of the required repairs, and they put forth a motion to enforce the demolition order. Members Duane Culp and Shiloh Milner voted against the motion, with Mayor Robert Listenberger abstaining due to his friendship with Richards.
Culp then suggested continuing the hearing to the next meeting of the Board of Works with the addition that the property would have to pass Manuwal’s inspection before that time, when it would come back to the board. The motion ended in a tie as well.
A compromise was reached stating that the building would have to pass Manuwal’s inspection in the two weeks time, or the order to demolish would automatically go into effect without returning to the Board of Works.
That compromise passed unanimously, with Listenberger again abstaining.
