Hurst officials put pressure on apartment complex owner to comply with repair requests
.jpg "The Dakota Place apartment complex in Hurst has over 700 code violations, according to city officials.")
The owner of the Dakota Place apartments is facing a lawsuit and possible fines after the city council discussed the future of the complex with over 700 code violations.
The council voted Tuesday to file the lawsuit and go forward with a public hearing.
“We don’t want to see the property condemned,” mayor Henry Wilson said in an interview.
“We’re trying to do all we can to get the owner to comply with the orders to repair the complex,” he said.
Charles Mercer, who owns the Dakota Place, declined to comment, stating that he needed to talk to his attorney.
City attorney Matthew Boyle said Mercer submitted permits to update the electrical wiring throughout the complex. When Hurst officials went to do an inspection of the electrical work and the roofs on Nov. 6, they didn’t see any improvements, and found deterioration in two buildings because of the ongoing problems with the roofs.
“Based on the electrical permit being pulled, we can report there has been some progress. But the problem is that it wasn’t timely or sufficient,” Boyle said.
Before the council voted, Dale Williams, who manages a retail store where he sees tenants from the Dakota Place, asked the city to consider using federal funds such as community development block grants to repair the property so that the tenants have a safe place to live.
“If the property is shut down, the priority concern is for the residents, I believe,” he said.
The Dakota Place apartments has over 700 health and safety code violations, including mold, roaches, rodents, sewage backups, leaking roofs and faulty electrical systems, according to city officials.
The Hurst building inspector wrote in a letter to Mercer that the property is “dilapidated, substandard, and unfit for human habitation and constitutes a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare.”
In February, Hurst hired the firms of Childress Engineering, Farmer Environmental Group and Bureau Veritas to inspect the Dakota Place Apartments. The roofs in the four buildings were found to be “unserviceable” and the fire department said they were too dangerous and off limits for firefighters.
The environmental firm found bad odors, “atypical of residential structures” in some units, dirty vents and registers, water damage resulting in partial ceiling collapse and substantial debris in the air.
Mercer purchased the property five years ago, and according to the city, failed to comply with an Oct. 24 deadline to submit plans to repair the violations.
Mercer said he is in a dispute with Hurst officials on making the roof repairs and said he is concerned about his tenants, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck.