The Susanville Planning Commission took action at its Wednesday, Dec. 10 meeting to deal with the burned out remains of the St. Francis Hotel on Main Street in Susanville.
First the commission approved Resolution No. 24-1189 declaring the public nuisance conditions at 830 Main Street, and then it also approved the issuance of Nuisance Abatement Order No. NA -2024-003.
During public comment local realtor Jim McCarthy encouraged the commission to meet with the city council and request a joint public workshop if the commission has the desire to remain relevant.
“If you wait for staff to follow up on this idea, it will never happen,” McCarthy said. “Staff would never want to allow you and the council to have a free-ranging discussion without their supervision … This city is on a disastrous course, but you can help correct it by holding staff accountable … ”
When the item of the St. Francis Hotel came up, City Manager Dan Newton explained the situation to the commission.
He said he had the authority to issue a summary abatement notice if there was a threat to public safety. He said the front wall of the burned out hotel was deemed a safety hazard, and the second and third floor were taken down under his authority. The commission’s actions, he said, are part of the normal abatement process.
Newton said it cost the city about $54,000 so far to bring down the front wall,, and the issue now is the site cleanup. He noted the property owner has due process rights, and it would cheaper for him to clear the site because the city would have to pay prevailing wages to any contractor it hired.
Newton said the owner had expressed an interest in saving what is left of the building, but the owner has not communicated with him, so he doesn’t know if he intends to try and save the building or proceed with cleaning up the site.
The city would need to go through the courts if it demolishes the building, but the property owner doesn’t have to do that. The property owner also could give the city permission to demolish the building.
He said there is a cost recovery process the costs of demolition are legally recoverable costs.
McCarthy took exception to Newton’s comments and returned to the podium. He said he met the new owners of the building when it was purchased, and they had a lot of ideas.
But he said he talked to the owner after the fire and was told there was no insurance on the building. The owner said he was an LLC, and if he didn’t get some help from the city, he will walk.
“Once again, we’re getting part of the story at the podium and at the dais because he’s already told you he’s not going to do anything,” McCarthy said. “And I believe him when he said it because he was pretty forceful when he said it. So it would be nice if we could get the whole story, and how terrible it’s going to be down the road. We can’t get out of paying for this. This is like being m Rome when it was burning. Are we going to let this be? So, I’d like to hear everything … ”
Newton confirmed McCarthy’s statement about the owner’s intention to abandon the property, but in subsequent conversations he said the owner also expressed an interest in restoring the building.
“I think Mr. McCarthy is probably right,” Newton said. “Most likely he’s not going to take any action, but we still have an obligation to communicate with him, to inform him of the actions we are taking and we will continue to do that, but ultimately, I think this is going to play out where the city is going to have to fund the cost, and we’re going to have to work hard to recover a portion of those costs. Ideally, we need to recover more than a portion — fully recover — but it will be an uphill battle for us, no doubt.”
Responding to questions from the commission regarding communication between the property owner and the city, Newton said, “The way I would try to fairly characterize the owner’s position from my perspective, is that he has always been looking for financial support to improve the building. Even when he first purchased it, he was willing to move forward with the renovations, but he was looking for investment from the city, or investment from the community to help him fund the renovations. I think when the building burned, he was still interested in pursuing the renovation as long as there was financial support either from the city or the community.”
Newton said the owner purchased the building for $118,000 at a tax sale and he is now seeking a way to preserve that investment. But from the community perspective, the site needs to be cleaned up because it is now beyond a safety issue.
