Warsaw Code Enforcement decided Tuesday to take Matthews LLC to Kosciusko Circuit Court.
The Matthews LLC case was continued after developer Dave Matthews failed to appear at a hearing on Oct. 8. At the October hearing, Matthews was ordered to remove construction material and debris from a lot on North Buffalo Street. Since that hearing, Matthews moved the materials from an empty lot to the driveway of an adjacent property. Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt said this did not comply with the request.
A neighbor to the property, Dwight Carter, stood and spoke about a pattern of situations where Matthews LLC failed to follow through with their agreements and responsibilities. He said he was aware of a $7 million lawsuit in South Bend involving the LLC. He said that after Matthews LLC stopped construction on the Buffalo Street condos he had agreed with the city to build, he transferred ownership of one of the properties to Bison LLC, which Carter speculated to be “intricately entwined” with Matthews LLC. Carter said he is aware of Bison LLC failing to pay for trash service for extended periods of time.
Carter thanked the city for its responsiveness to take care of the lot and requested swift action to end the series of issues with Matthews.
Hewitt said Matthews was difficult to get into contact with and unresponsive after their first conversation. He recommended declaring the property a nuisance. Hearing Officer Tom Earhart stated that at the October hearing, the code enforcement team had discussed taking Matthews LLC to Kosciusko Circuit Court for institution of a receiver if no action was taken.
Earhart stated declaring it a nuisance would lead to a citation from the Warsaw Police Department, which did not seem like it would be effective in correcting the situation. He recommended bypassing the fine and notifying the city attorney to take it to court.
In other business, the code enforcement team heard an update on the Crist case. Hewitt stated he spoke with Kevin Crist on the phone that morning about his property on McClellan and Beyer streets. The property was an empty lot inside city limits that had a private storage unit, five trailers, a boat and various construction materials. Hewitt said his understanding was that Crist was using the lot for overflow for his business, which is outside city limits.
After the case was heard at the October hearing, Crist moved the trailers and boat from the property, but the storage unit remained. Hewitt told Crist on the phone that he would have to remove the storage unit from the lot or take the case to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Crist agreed to move the storage unit within the next three weeks.
Earhart stated if the unit is not moved by Dec. 24, the code enforcement team will declare the property a nuisance and have it cited by WPD.
The next code enforcement hearing is 10 a.m. Jan. 7 at Warsaw City Hall, 102 S. Buffalo St.