Man pleads for his home.

[sheclown]

Tuesday night's City Council meeting found Jeff Waltz asking City Council not to tear down his historic house in Springfield.  This house has been on the Formal Track, has been handed over to demo contractors, and will be coming down next week.

Jeff Waltz:   So..... Do you really think you have property rights The city of Jax wants to tear my house down and they did not even bother to tell me. The only reason it is still standing is because the contractor found asbestos in the fireplace.It will be gone by this time next week if I can't stop them.

quoted from facebook.

[sheclown]

City Council meetings are available online.  This meeting is from 8/24/10 and available for viewing here:

http://media.coj.net/City_Council/Council%208-24-10.wmv

His moment in time is:  01:107

[strider]

I have yet to have the opportunity to look at this house close up but I did do the drive by and the house seems straighter and truer than many in the community and while I did notice a missing pier under the bump-out, the bump-out is not sagging. From the eye of a restoration contractor, this house is an easy fix and is not this unsafe structure that needs to be demolished before it falls down.

[just_chi]

It seems there are some who would rather see Springfield a vast 'parking lot' rather than the beautiful historic neighborhood it should be shown once again to be!

[Noone]

I was at the meeting and spoke at 1:53, 2:08, and 2:26. For some reason my volume isn't working so I didn't hear Jeff at 1:07.

It may be a stretch but listen to my 2:26 address to council on an ord. that had to do with a taxpayer bailout for the SBA. From the pic it seems to me that the city should immediately PROVIDE FOREGIVENESS. Take this up as an emergency too.

[sheclown]

Jeff said "Please don't tear down my house." -- in so many words.

(& btw, a pleasure to meet you, noone-- you speak well).

[sheclown]

It seems there are some who would rather see Springfield a vast 'parking lot' rather than the beautiful historic neighborhood it should be shown once again to be!

It is "demolition by reckless policy" more so than intent, I believe, chi.

[sheclown]

The address is 423 Walnut Court if you want to see it before it is gone.

[sheclown]

In Jeff's words...a final plea to city council members via email:

It would have been the nicest house on the
street.It is the largest house on the street and the only duplex. These
homes were built by true craftsmen, no power tools,every thing cut by
hand. Its really hard for me to imagine that. It took so much time to do
this compared to today's standards.The balloon Framing is just
incredible....

...to get a permit then they wanted homestead
papers. I considered moving my homestead but to do that it had to have a
certificate of occupancy. so that killed that idea.No permits. I can't
understand for the life of me why it has to be homesteaded to pull a
permit and as I understand it's not a state law it's a Duval county
rule.Discouraged I kept working on painting actually stripping every
last bit of old paint with chemical stripper, scrappers and sanders.
Unfortunately it was not fast enough for the city so they imposed fines
at $250.00 per day. That's about 15,000.00 per month..I gave up In close
I need enough time to sell or even give this house away to at least save
a part of Springfields History. ..

[buckethead]

In Jeff's words...a final plea to city council members via email:

It would have been the nicest house on the
street.It is the largest house on the street and the only duplex. These
homes were built by true craftsmen, no power tools,every thing cut by
hand. Its really hard for me to imagine that. It took so much time to do
this compared to today's standards.The balloon Framing is just
incredible....

...to get a permit then they wanted homestead
papers. I considered moving my homestead but to do that it had to have a
certificate of occupancy. so that killed that idea.No permits. I can't
understand for the life of me why it has to be homesteaded to pull a
permit and as I understand it's not a state law it's a Duval county
rule.Discouraged I kept working on painting actually stripping every
last bit of old paint with chemical stripper, scrappers and sanders.
Unfortunately it was not fast enough for the city so they imposed fines
at $250.00 per day. That's about 15,000.00 per month..I gave up In close
I need enough time to sell or even give this house away to at least save
a part of Springfields History. ..

If all the above is true, Springfield is being demolished by design. Blatantly.

[Bativac]

This is really a sad case and it is a primary reason my wife and I didn't buy in Springfield when we were in the market last year. I don't understand why the city is so anxious to tear down neighborhood homes when stuff like the Park View Inn and that half-finished condo tower are left standing.

[uptowngirl]

This is really a sad case and it is a primary reason my wife and I didn't buy in Springfield when we were in the market last year. I don't understand why the city is so anxious to tear down neighborhood homes when stuff like the Park View Inn and that half-finished condo tower are left standing.

Thank you for posting this comment. Some of us have been stating this hurts the market for years. While I personally understand how frustrating it can be to have a nicely restored house and live next door to one the owner has basically abandoned, it is still better than living next door to a vacant abandoned lot. If the structure stands hope lives. I lived like this for three years, mowing the house next door, boarding it up, etc etc and low and behold someone came along, bought it and it is beautiful now. If it had been a vacant lot it would still be there, overgrown and wild.

[Bativac]

Thank you for posting this comment. Some of us have been stating this hurts the market for years. While I personally understand how frustrating it can be to have a nicely restored house and live next door to one the owner has basically abandoned, it is still better than living next door to a vacant abandoned lot. If the structure stands hope lives. I lived like this for three years, mowing the house next door, boarding it up, etc etc and low and behold someone came along, bought it and it is beautiful now. If it had been a vacant lot it would still be there, overgrown and wild.

Yeah -- we didn't want to buy a cheap house in need of renovation and then be faced with the city breathing down our necks to fix it or tear it down. We instead went with a 1950s brick home with good "bones" that we can take our time with improving.

When I hear stories like this, I always think of my dad, whose grandmother had a great big old house in Springfield. She'd lived there since the 1920s or 30s and lived there until she died, sometime in the 70s or early 80s. Every so often he'd drive by to look at the house. He finally quit when it became run down to the point where it upset him. Fast forward to a few years later - he drove out there to find all that was left was the front stoop. A few stairs. He wandered the lot looking for a doorknob, something, but everything was gone. So he sat on the steps, and called his brother, in disbelief, shed a couple tears, and left.

That was 2002? 2003? He hasn't been back since.

[sheclown]

When I hear stories like this, I always think of my dad, whose grandmother had a great big old house in Springfield. She'd lived there since the 1920s or 30s and lived there until she died, sometime in the 70s or early 80s. Every so often he'd drive by to look at the house. He finally quit when it became run down to the point where it upset him. Fast forward to a few years later - he drove out there to find all that was left was the front stoop. A few stairs. He wandered the lot looking for a doorknob, something, but everything was gone. So he sat on the steps, and called his brother, in disbelief, shed a couple tears, and left.

That was 2002? 2003? He hasn't been back since.

There is just something about these old houses.  They grab you by the heart.  It may be all of the human touch that went into building them, or the millions of footsteps over a hundred years or so on the hardwood floors.

Whatever it is, they are not easy to let go of, that's for sure.

[stjr]

Where is the City Council rep on this?

Were certified mail notices sent to the owner of record?  If not properly notified, he may have a legal stop to this as well.

How about SPAR?

Seems odd this is coming down to this last minute reprieve without more going on leading up to it.  Reminds me of the Springfield car wash story.  There has to be more than meets the eye.

Is the City bureaucracy literally bulldozing people or are people, out of ignorance, fear, or laziness not taking the City seriously until it's (almost) too late?  I have been to code hearings and observed a real desire by the City to work with owners who simply show up and say they genuinely care about their property. Not taking the City's side, but not assuming the owner played their cards properly either.

I hope, if the building is worth saving, the City can back off.  But, I wish owners would do their part to be more proactive in not tempting fate and letting these issues get to the edge of the precipice.  What's the City to do if the owner doesn't respond to their notices?

If the man is right about the building permits, maybe the City Council needs to revisit the local ordinances.  Again, where is the City Council district rep on this?  Did he/she know of this before it went this far?