Last night during the public input time at the council meeting Vitaliy Strizheus who owns an unfinished house the city is scheduled to demolish on Monday came to plead his case to the council and public. I have avoided posting about this because 1) I really don’t care about the lifestyles of the rich and famous of Sioux Falls and 2) I do not know the details of the case including accusations that the city is discriminating based on race and what Constitutional property rights he may have. The city has a track record on this after ignoring their own building codes and allowing an oversized mansion to be built in McKennan Park.
Hopefully a Federal judge will block the demolition so we can get a clearer understanding of what is going on. But taking 10 years to complete a home is unacceptable and there should be consequences. Not sure charging taxpayers $85K to demolish and all the litigation expenses is really beneficial to the defendant or the public. I think this could have been solved in a different manner. Why can’t the city just take the home and sell it on auction?
But what I found most intriguing is while this guy is begging the city to spare his home he dawns a gold watch. He should have taken a queue from this guy at last week’s public input complaining about the uselessness of the pothole hotline. Maybe Carhartt Kent had a gold watch under his coveralls but I am guessing NOT.
That’s why, whenever I do input, I make sure to wear my fake Rolex.
It’s been a difficult time for construction. There was a 5 year shortage of materials. Contractors are busy. Labor is hard to find and very expensive. Once things started to settle down, interest rates doubled. For a private project, the process could take 10 years.
The project was independent without using oligarch resources. When you anger The Godfather you’ll be a victim of city wise guys using questionable condemnation tactics.
There could be a legal challenge via constitutional rights violations. Namely, using Home Rule to deny hearings and appeals. There’s a large record of applicable court cases. It’s not worth it because the city uses all sorts of filibuster, erroneous legal discovery action, and unqualified obstruction evidence. It’s a 6 figures expense and 10 years litigation to get a SD Supreme Court decision.
This instance is more proof to build in an unincorporated county or neighboring city. The anarchy doesn’t allow building without paying protection consideration. It’s North Korea where there’s unnecessary play palaces and overpriced condo projects the king approves and the brain dead citizens reside.
At least the city will be destroying an unfinished private project instead of demolishing a good baseball stadium then build another like it in the same spot. City officials are like the guy that won’t step on sidewalk lines. Makes no sense but there’s no cure.
As shown time and time again in Sioux Falls there is more to the story than what the weak Sioux Falls media is wwilling to tell. Ask the owner of the neighboring house why he is pushing to destroy his neighbor’s house? The next door local media executive neighbor has stated he does not want the eastern Europe family near his mic-mansion.
Their is much more to the story including the continued harassment by the city code enforcement to accomplish the house near White Church Lane. The house may not be in our collective tastes but who cares, oh that’s right the prickly neighbors.
There’s reasons like this that city officials and employees don’t live in Sioux Falls or are looking to leave. They’re protected by the Union and charter but there’s no respect for how citizens are unrepresented and used. Strong Mayor Charter is not democracy people. Will the Denty become a Roman-like coliseum where code enforcement will bring peasants for gladiators to torture. You’ll not survive if Strong Mayor gives you thumbs down from his skybox.
The watch is a Timex with stainless wore off the band and copper showing. If you don’t blend with the powerful and affluent, the city will ruin you and blow your house down. You’ll go from upper income to just another someone in line at ‘The Banquet’. I wish I could help him but you can’t win with white collar insider city criminals. He’ll come out ok with bankruptcy. He should wait till he gets a demolition and final fines statement from the city. Stiff the city about $100k on your way to a home in the unincorporated county where Amazon taxes are 4.2% not 7.5% with proposed penny. Rural property taxes are less. Schools are better. You can use many city services without paying. Crime is less. Less traffic. No unfinished apartment buildings left abandoned.
When shall the city hereby condemn Mr. Sanford’s ongoing, years-long project to buy up all of the lots between 22nd and 18th over to Minnesota Ave?
He looks like he’s besties with the mayor…knows when a camera is around.
The city is prejudice against the Ukrainian home owners. Trade city officials to Moscow for arrested soccer players. Strong mayor charter is being deployed to establish Putin government in South Dakota.
No one mentions the thought that Black Door Partners LLC also owns a home right across the street from the 2 acres of property held by this family. They not only hold an Realestate Office on S. Louise Ave, they own the home right across the street to the southwest corner of Vitaly’s property. Not to mention, if the City was so in tune with destroying the home, why did it grant extended permits and time for doing so, let alone further, there is NO state statute that places any length in time a citizen can build a home, they could take a life time if they so choose to. There is a very narrow window for government to force a private owner to destroy or remove their home in America. Alongside Chester DeYoung’s public comments at city council meetings, this raises alarm to the community of how the Planning, Zoning, and Engineering Offices has dishonored the people of the City, let alone utilizes bullying tactics to enforce, or not enforce the ordinances themselves.
Is that what they call the layered look?
MLZ, with perhaps his most succinct ever post reply at South Dacola asks us to consider the “who” in order to understand “why” –
Not only can multiple out-of-staters register as residents of South Dakota and claim a voting address at the single street address of a mailing/shipping/residency storefront, so also can multiple LLC entities claim domecile to a single Postal Mailbox in a UPS Shipping Store.
And of course, one of the nouveau riche LLC kings in town has his personal home owned by an LLC based from a mailbox in a shipping store.
Follow. The. Money.
Hey PMB 424,
Yah, sure sixty some odd LLCs crammed into your box, but that neighborhood is also home to at least one prominant Dem, not to mention also many of the the country club cronyist set (who would be registered as ‘Dem’ were it not for the benefit in social circles of party registration as ‘Rep’).