I have been complaining about the property at 15th and Cliff for well over a decade with ZERO results. I have implored the city’s code enforcement department, the county and city councilors with ZERO results. ZERO!
Just look at this dump I have been living next door to for 20 years.
A collapsed roof, a house that has been gutted for over a decade, two abandoned rentals with severe water damage, unlicensed vehicles, random junk, weeds, debris, fire hazards, homeless encampment and to top it all off, behind on their taxes.
What does it take for the city to take action? Really? Or even the county? Anybody? While the city chased after an almost completed mansion they let this property rot.
Do I think it is political? Kind of. I wouldn’t say the city is ignoring this because of me, but they have given up on code enforcement in many middle class neighborhoods like mine. The C-Store supposedly closed on 14th and Cliff because they were getting robbed so much, doesn’t help you have a salvage yard next to you.
If the property owner doesn’t want to sell (he has had many generous offers) fine, but please, get a bulldozer and some grass seed so I don’t have to look at your toilet anymore!
And as for the city, do your freaking job! Does the property have to go into nuclear meltdown before you will act?
You do not need a city government going after people that are not causing issues. They pay taxes, and they provide a service to the citizens. There are no complaints made agaisnt them….I kno them personally, hes a decent guy.
Decent people don’t throw their trash next to residential properties. Decent people keep up with their taxes. Decent people know when their diapers are dirty. Decent people don’t do things like this. I don’t want him to have to pay any fines or go thru some legal gymnastics, I just want him to clean the sh!t up.
There is more to this than people believe. The vehicles are private property, registered, and in the name of the property holder. I do kno for a fact, the vehicles are ‘titled’ in the name of the property holder, so they are 100% legal to be held on the property. State Statutes are upheld. Just cause a vehicle has no plates, does NOT mean they are not titled to the property holder. The city cannot do a thing cause the vehicles are titled and on private property. State statutes does not force you to put license plate on the vehicle, so long as you agree to TITLE ONLY EXEMPTION 95.
The property is not as bad off as it appears and I do kno the property holder has been providing services for the city on other projects, so there is an agreement in place to partner together to clean up the city.
It truly is an eyesore, just like a few of the properties on north Cliff between Rice St and Franklin Foods. But the city will go after people for trash cans or if their yard gets a quarter inch too long. Leave it to Mike to defend him. Ask yourself Mike, could I live on this property?
‘The property is not as bad off as it appears’
or in other terms, ‘It’s only a flesh wound.’
Mike, drive by it twice a day for 20 years, and it APPEARS as bad as it is.
People parking their cars on the grass…. WTF?
The House looks to be in great condition. I love old houses. Yes You can.
Code enforcement is merely one of the mayor’s bag of tricks for anyone critical of city government or who shows up at Public Comment. City zoning violations can be ignored because there’s no appeal into circuit court and action cannot be forced without a court order. Case in point is the lot line incursion at McKennon Park. It was the private historical society who forced removal via a civil lawsuit. The city will say they sued and won when actually they approved the original variance. Another case is the unfinished castle estate. The city warned but couldn’t go to court. The owner sued for discrimination and the city backed off. If a home owner wants to have a car lot, go for it. The city would harass but can’t take action. The charter prevents litigation. If amended, there’d be a flurry of lawsuits showing city government to be unconstitutional, undemocratic, and seriously corrupt.
There’s a national trend of merging county and city governments. The city charter is entrenched. It would lapse. Problem solved. How does City and County of Minnehaha Falls sound?
l3wis, 100% agree. Nobody should have to put up with this crap. Amazing how it’s located in the central part of the city, on Cliff Avenue no less, where “law enforcement” officers drive by several times every day. Codes are laws, so why isn’t this enforced?
I see this all over town. Take a look at the used car lots at North Main and Russell near the pen. Clearly in violation … so bad that they illegally park additional vehicles sidewalks and in the street. I’ve been told that the city won’t act unless they receive a complaint – regardless if the infraction is this blatantly obvious. They prefer to pit neighbor against neighbor rather than just do their job.
all that property is missing is the MAGA flag.
Next there will be tents everywhere, but I thought only Democratic mayors had tents? What will be the Republican mayor’s response to this? Let’s go camping?…… With Brandon?
A beat-up old truck with a Trump sticker, there’s not much hope there.
Mikes said: “Yes you can”. Obama once said: “Yes we can”. The latter takes a village, while the former will destroy it.
as a dealer myself, a car lot is mainly a storage lot, there are no rules or regulations on parking cars on our property. Sure you hope to make your lot look professional, but many of them are parking lots to store cars aka inventory. City Govt does not get into the private property side of governing. And if they do fine us, its merely a misdemeanor fine, that most of us simply pay. You just rite it off as cost of doing business.
I get a kick out of the abandoned MX Liquors store. It looks like a run down and closed West River tourist trap. AND, I always like it when a tourist trap is closed. It means the tourists have won……. OH, and maybe we should steal from the Wall Drug thing, too, and place signs throughout the world that say things like: “Bunker Ramp Only 4235 Miles Away!”….. #IceWaterIceBumperBoatsDonuts&CoffeeCornholesAtTheBunkerRamp
Oops, I forgot, Mike is above the law.
that place coulda been yours by now if you’d known what to do over the past 20 years.
https://www.findlaw.com/state/south-dakota-law/south-dakota-adverse-possession-laws.html
mike is a sovereign citizen. laws don’t apply to him.
I want to be a sovereign. Do you get to wear a crown?
Obviously this parcel isn’t coveted by one of the developer lords who pull the puppet strings for our Mayor and nearly all of the City Council members.
Otherwise the City would suddenly be very interested in enforcement of code violations.
Hell, the Mayor would even get directly involved in publicly forcing sale to a chosen party (vis á vis the Lucky Lady Casino).