"Emergency Demolition"

[TheProfessor]

So saddending....Why does the district having historic status not protect all of its buildings?

[sheclown]

The correct windows, siding, door openings are important if your historic district is safe and stable.

We spend all of our HPC energy on such "luxuries" discussing them ad nauseum (and have for years) while we lose house after house after house.

Put in the wrong windows and the city will make your life miserable...



http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,10033.0.html

What is wrong with this historic preservation strategy when windows become more important than houses?

[ChriswUfGator]

SPAR is a 4-letter word.

[vicupstate]

Is the contractor that did the 'shoddy' work going to be barred from doing further work in the neighborhood, or for that matter the entire city?  Is there no penalty for 'repairing' a house so badly that it (supposedly) has to be demolished?? 

[ChriswUfGator]

Is the contractor that did the 'shoddy' work going to be barred from doing further work in the neighborhood, or for that matter the entire city?  Is there no penalty for 'repairing' a house so badly that it (supposedly) has to be demolished?? 

Turns out the owner did it himself, "accidentally" after his application for a demolition had been denied.

[peestandingup]

Is the contractor that did the 'shoddy' work going to be barred from doing further work in the neighborhood, or for that matter the entire city?  Is there no penalty for 'repairing' a house so badly that it (supposedly) has to be demolished?? 

Turns out the owner did it himself, "accidentally" after his application for a demolition had been denied.

Let me get this straight. A homeowner, in a nationally recognized historic district (that's under the watchful eye of SPAR, whom of which gets pissed if you paint your door the wrong color), can just go into his/her own house (that was perfectly fine before & passed inspections), sabotage it so that it has to be emergency demoed just so their greedy fat ass can have a bigger land lot, and nothing happens to the said home owner for this??

So what the hell is the point in it being a "protected" historic district & all of these board members with their noses up everyone's ass then?? Someone fill me in 'cause I'm sorta missing that part.

[Ralph W]

Document Type:       (DEED) DEED
Modified Date:      
Record Date :      4/14/2010 8:33:45 AM
Event Date :      Not Available
Grantor:      U S BANK NATL ASSN TRS
Grantee:      WILLIAMS ELAINE
Book Type:      OR
Book / Page:      15212 / 694
# of Pages:      2
Consideration:      25,000.00
Legal Description    
Legal:    S1/2 L13 B32 EAST SPRINGFIELD

Is the city so far behind in recording sale documents that the owner listed in the property search site is STILL Elaine Williams?

[Bativac]

Is the contractor that did the 'shoddy' work going to be barred from doing further work in the neighborhood, or for that matter the entire city?  Is there no penalty for 'repairing' a house so badly that it (supposedly) has to be demolished?? 

Turns out the owner did it himself, "accidentally" after his application for a demolition had been denied.

Let me get this straight. A homeowner, in a nationally recognized historic district (that's under the watchful eye of SPAR, whom of which gets pissed if you paint your door the wrong color), can just go into his/her own house (that was perfectly fine before & passed inspections), sabotage it so that it has to be emergency demoed just so their greedy fat ass can have a bigger land lot, and nothing happens to the said home owner for this??

So what the hell is the point in it being a "protected" historic district & all of these board members with their noses up everyone's ass then?? Someone fill me in 'cause I'm sorta missing that part.

"This guy wants to put WHAT kind of windows in his house?? Absolutely not!!! I demand satisfaction!!! That trim wasn't in use until 1918 and city records indicate this home was built in 1916!!! Which speed dial button connects me with code enforcement?"

"This other guy wants to do WHAT? Tear down his house? To extend his lot? ...Well, what the hell, it's his house, after all. Plus it looks old. Better safe than sorry."

I don't know if it's SPAR or the City or whoever. It just seems like this neighborhood is a lot of trouble for somebody who wants to buy and restore an old home. You don't know from one day to the next whether the house next door or across the street is gonna be gone the next morning, not to mention whether you'll be fined because you put the wrong shingles on your porch roof...

[iloveionia]

But yet San Marco or Riverside don't have this problem.
JUST Springfield.

[fieldafm]

But yet San Marco or Riverside don't have this problem.

B/c the neighborhood organizations simply don't let it happen.
That's the difference.  A unified voice with the implicit backing of many people can do that for a neighborhood.

[Miss Fixit]

But yet San Marco or Riverside don't have this problem.
JUST Springfield.

San Marco and Riverside/Avondale are very different neighborhoods than Springfield.

Years ago, Riverside was affected by demolitions gone wild.  RAP was formed and the neighborhood stabilized over a period of time.  San Marco has always been fairly well maintained and demos just haven't been an issue.

Today, property values in those areas are too high for a neighbor to purchase the house next door and tear it down just to increase the size of his lot.

Neither San Marco nor Riverside has any significant number of derelict buildings that might be targeted for demolition.  The cost of renovating houses that have never fallen into extreme disrepair is much lower, so you can buy a house, fix it up, and possibly get your money out (maybe even make some) at the end of the day.

San Marco isn't even officially an historic district, so the rules are not the same.

Demolitions and nuisance houses are simply not big issues in San Marco, Riverside and Avondale.  Springfield's gonna have to tackle this problem largely on its own.....

[Ocklawaha]

Let me get this straight. A homeowner, in a nationally recognized historic district (that's under the watchful eye of SPAR, whom of which gets pissed if you paint your door the wrong color), can just go into his/her own house (that was perfectly fine before & passed inspections), sabotage it so that it has to be emergency demoed just so their greedy fat ass can have a bigger land lot, and nothing happens to the said home owner for this??

Come on man, you left out burning it to the ground as an optional approved method.

By Shannon Womble
Times-Union staff writer,

Arson investigators are trying to determine what sparked four Springfield house fires yesterday.

All the houses were vacant.

Fire broke out about 11:20 a.m. in a house in the 1300 block of Hart Street. Twenty minutes later, a second house burned only four blocks away at 748 Minnie St. At noon, a third fire started in a home at 612 Lee St. Firefighters battled a fourth blaze about 3:30 p.m. at 3726 Evergreen St.

''To have that many fires in that short of a time frame is unusual,'' said Larry Thomas, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department spokesman.

No firefighters were injured in any of the fires.

Damage estimates as a result of the fires weren't available yesterday.

Springfield fire injures two

Two people were injured this morning in a Springfield house fire caused by a faulty extension cord, while a woman escaped injury when her Riverside home burned, said Lt. Mike Peery, a fire department spokesman.



â€" Ionia St. fire photo by Steve Gerbert/Jacksonville Fire and Rescue

An hour later, firefighters were called to the 1700 block of Ionia Street, where they found heavy fire coming from a second-floor apartment in back of the Springfield property. Two people who live in the garage apartment were found on the ground, apparently from jumping off the second story. The victims, whose identities were not available, were taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital in stable condition, Peery said.

The fire was caused by a faulty extension cord that was hooked up to a heater, Perry said. There were no smoke detectors in the apartment, he said.

Peery said anyone wishing to receive a free smoke detector can call 630-CITY.

â€" Jim Schoettler

By JIM SCHOETTLER
The Times-Union

A fire that destroyed a vacant two-story home in Springfield this morning may have been deliberately set, fire officials said.

The blaze in the 200 block of East Third Street was the second in the two-story wood frame home in seven hours, said Lt. Mike Peery, a fire department spokesman. He said both fires were suspicious. Peery said the first fire was reported about 1 a.m. A neighbor said that blaze occurred in the home’s second floor and was quickly extinguished. Firefighters got the second call about 8 a.m. and found the home engulfed in flames when they arrived.

Officials said it took about 25 firefighters less than 10 minutes to control the blaze. There were no injuries.

Peery said the home was being renovated, but had no electricity.

Neighbor Mike Lippo said the homeowner threw out a mattress and other items belonging to homeless people Sunday afternoon. He said he didn’t know if those people returned.

Lippo said he was alerted to the fire by a man who works at a nearby convenience store. He said he went back into his home, noticed an orange glow coming from the back and went through a rear door. The fire was burning 30 feet away.

“Flames were going from the first floor through the second floor and the roof,” said Lippo, 42. “The heat was unbelievable.”

The fire had East Third Street blocked from Market to Liberty streets. The street is now open.

Rachel Davis

Fire damages home

A fire that officials called suspicious caused an estimated $50,000 damage Friday to a vacant Springfield house.

OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

Unfortunately, lots of historic houses that don't constitute a "district" have disappeared from Jax as well.  In many ways, these "orphans" are much more endangered by demolition.  Go through Wayne Wood's book and see how many historic buildings are left from it in San Jose, Mandarin, Loretto, Arlington, St. Nicholas, Clifton, etc.  Not many.  As the value of land has risen in the suburbs, these often simpler rural style wood frame "farm" homes, frequently on prime acreage suitable for a shopping center or housing development, have been removed forever.

As time marches on, I think we need to consider higher protections for all buildings built prior to WWII (that would now be 70 plus years old).  After the war, buildings appear to have taken on less character and craftsmanship as volume building began to take hold.

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

Unfortunately, lots of historic houses that don't constitute a "district" have disappeared from Jax as well.  In many ways, As time marches on, I think we need to consider higher protections for all buildings built prior to WWII (that would now be 70 plus years old).  After the war, buildings appear to have taken on less character and craftsmanship as volume building began to take hold.

hey, the same thing happened in germany!  the 'neubauten' tend to look like frosted ass and collapse like a drunk in an earthquake.  maybe something about WWII just sapped all the architecture out ov people.

[cline]

But yet San Marco or Riverside don't have this problem.

B/c the neighborhood organizations simply don't let it happen.
That's the difference.  A unified voice with the implicit backing of many people can do that for a neighborhood.

Actually, a similar event happened a few months ago in Riverside.  There was a house on Orleans Court that was for sale, the neighbor purchased and subsequently demolished it so that he could enlarge his backyard.  He put up a fence, basketball hoop and trampoline.  Pretty sad.