The city of Ann Arbor is targeting a series of houses for demolition that sit along Platt Road just north of Interstate 94.
The three structures have sat abandoned since around 2007 and are on approximately 8 acres of land.
Hearings for the houses will be held by the Building Board of Appeals at its Thursday, Dec.12 meeting. The board could order them demolished within 30 days.
Multiple parcels are owned by two different owners, and city records show several properties on the board’s list are only vacant lots, while one property holds an additional home that was built apparently unbeknownst to the assessor’s office and doesn’t have an official address.
Ralph Welton, the city’s chief development official, said the owner of the parcels at 3680 Platt, 3696 Platt, 3788 Platt and 3746 Platt have long said they planned to sell the four properties to a developer who wants to build a strip mall.
But the sale and development was held up once it was discovered the properties are in a floodplain.
An abandoned home on Platt Road that could soon be demolished.
“It’s in a floodplain, so that makes construction requirements stringent. Now we have somebody who has been sitting on at least four of those properties since mid-2000s,” Welton said.
City records show a couple from Pennsylvania, Rodwan and Zokaa Rajjoub, own the four parcels, which total 7.6 acres and have a combined market value of $821,000. One 985-square foot farmhouse built in 1922 sits on the parcel at 3680 Platt, which is directly across from the entrance to the Colonial Square Cooperative. The owners are current on the properties’ tax payments.
Welton said he recently spoke to the owners and was told they planned to close on a deal with a developer within days. Welton said he told the owners that if the deal was produced in writing then he wouldn’t move forward with the Building Board of Appeals hearing, but a deal was never sent to the city.
The owners have the opportunity to make their case to the board about why the home at 3680 Platt shouldn’t be demolished. If the board still orders demolition, the owners can appeal the order to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
If they don’t appeal or don’t show up and a demolition order is entered, the city can move forward on the project after 30 days, bill the owners and place a lien on the property, if necessary
“We didn’t hear from the owners on this go-around, so if somebody doesn’t approach us with a viable option or someone works to repair the home, then the properties go to the board,” Weltlon said.
Two other houses at 3802 and 3810 Platt sit just south of the four parcels, but the 3810 property doesn’t exist in city records. They are owned by Ehab Samaha.
The 1-acre lot and its 924-square-foot home listed in city records have a market value of $89,000 and the owner is current on the taxes.
Welton said he hasn’t heard from the owner of the property and it will go through the Building Board of Appeals process.
The Platt properties are among 11 properties with vacant buildings the city is targeting at its Dec. 12 meeting.
Tom Perkins is a freelance reporter for The Ann Arbor News.