An army of squatters, a mountain of trash and a river of waste water are driving Westminster officials to use the city's "uninhabitable buildings" code -- for the first time since the law was created in 1995 -- to demolish a property.

The owner of a downtown apartment complex at 110 E. Main St. was ordered to demolish the building by Friday. The city and the owner, Nelson B. Dorsey, have been arguing over the property for nearly a year.

A second property, at 154 W. Main St., has also been cited for code violations. The building is home of the former Myers grocery store, which was operated by the late Ida Myers for about 50 years. Two of her sons, Jay W. Myers and Francis L. Myers III, live on the first floor and have rented rooms to tenants in the past. They haven't complied with an order to leave.

Thomas B. Beyard, the city's director of planning and public works, said when the "uninhabitable buildings" law was passed there were four properties in violation of the code. He wrote letters to the owners, the repairs were made and the cases were closed. The Dorsey case is different, he said.

"We constantly received complaints about garbage and trash, and the city came in and cleaned it four or five times," Beyard said. "It's frustrating to the extent that property that's neglected impacts the entire neighborhood."

The city has received complaints of squatters living in the building after it was ordered vacated. An inspection several months ago turned up drug paraphernalia, garbage, food and a cash register, Beyard said.

Resolution of the problem is proving complex because Dorsey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year. A trustee has the job of selling Dorsey's assets and giving the proceeds to creditors. The trustee can keep the property and comply with city demands or "abandon" it and give it back to Dorsey. That decision has not been made.

Zvi Guttman, a lawyer representing Dorsey in the bankruptcy, said Dorsey was able to separate his home in the Reisterstown area from the proceedings, meaning his house -- which records show he bought for $785,000 in 1995 -- won't be liquidated.

Stringent city code

The county has cited Dorsey and the Myers brothers for code violations, said Ralph E. Green, county director of permits, inspections and review. But the county only pursues such cases when tenants are living in a rental property.

Now that neither party is renting rooms or apartments, he said, the county would only follow up if the properties were in such disrepair that they were endangering their neighbors or the public at large, which is not the case.

"Where the city comes into play is with the general appearance of the site, and they have different codes," he said. "The city's code as far as writing condemnation orders is stronger than ours."

Problems at the Dorsey property came to light last year when a tree in front of the property died. City officials investigated and found waste water -- left from showers or washing dishes -- being pumped from the basement into the yard and street.

Dorsey stopped paying the company he had hired to pick up garbage, said Scott Jeznach, the city's code enforcement officer. Tenants kept piling garbage there anyway, Jeznach said, and eventually the receptacle for it was hidden under the trash.

'A bad rap'

Dorsey said he's "gotten a bad rap." He removed trash from the site on several occasions, he said, and the water pumped from the basement to the street was clean.

He will appear in District Court on May 22 to contest a $2,500 fine. After he failed to seal the vacated property last year, the city did it for him and fined him $2,500, which he paid. When squatters broke in, the city sealed the building again and fined Dorsey another $2,500. He's fighting the second citation, saying the city should have sealed it better the first time.

"They portray me as irresponsible, and that's totally wrong," Dorsey said. "I've done nothing but try to help people. Housing agencies called me, and I would take in people who fell through the cracks."

Karen Blandford, city administrator of housing and community development, disagrees. She said Dorsey, who at one time owned at least five city properties, is the only landlord in Westminster ever barred from the federal Section 8 program -- which helps low-income people pay rent -- because of conditions in his buildings.

Housing records show Dorsey was cited for numerous problems at the property, including a ceiling fan that fell on a sleeping tenant's head, structural problems in the two-story porch and failure to pay utility bills, leaving tenants without heat or electricity.

Jeznach said he's received calls from people interested in buying the property. The best outcome, he said, would be for a developer to buy it, tear out the inside and turn it into offices.

The building is across from the Greater Westminster Development Corp., which officials said made the job of selling Westminster to prospective developers and businesses more difficult.

"I had some parties come in from outside the county who immediately upon parking their vehicle were astounded at what it looked like," said R. Douglas Mathias, executive director of the corporation. "It's something you couldn't miss, and it's not a very positive thing."

Meanwhile, as city officials await word from Dorsey's bankruptcy trustee, they are preparing for a court date, which has not been set, with the Myerses. The brothers are fighting a $2,000 fine that came when they failed to move out of their home.

'Told me to get out'

A March 11 letter from the city ordered them to take 15 steps to bring their property up to code, including repairing damaged doors and windows, replacing wiring, removing bagged trash, and "complete painting and related maintenance on interior and exterior of building to insure a structurally sound and functional building."

The letter gave them eight days to move out and 45 days -- until yesterday -- to make the repairs or demolish the property.

Beyard said the action was taken after his office received complaints from neighbors and the Police Department. "I think the people who live in these neighborhoods want to see something done," he said. "The test is, would you want it next to you?"

Jay Myers, 48, said he's making as many repairs as he can afford.

"They told me to get out of my own home, just like that," he said. "Where do you want me to go?"

Myers said he suffered a head injury in a car accident in 1980 that resulted in memory problems and left him unable to hold a job. His brother, 56, has epilepsy and has seizures almost daily, he said.

They earned money by renting two rooms on the second floor of the house, but the city's action has put an end to that, Myers said.

Blandford said officials hope both disputes can be settled without tearing down the buildings.

Pub Date: 4/26/99