Unless its owners act within 30 days, a Platte County residence will soon be demolished.
Residents of Parkville’s 160-home Misty Woods subdivision voiced their concerns to the Platte County Commissioners in a recent public hearing over what they considered to be a “dangerous structure” in their neighborhood.
The structure in question is a home owned by Danny and Janice Grogan, located at 6468 N.W. 49th Street in the Misty Woods subdivision near Parkville.
Foul odors, a deceased dog in the backyard swimming pool, and a sagging roof convinced neighbors to contact Gale Cantu of Platte County Planning and Zoning.
According to Cantu, the residence, which has been abandoned for over six months, is “unsanitary.”
Cantu found the “roof to be in disrepair, the windows broken out, and the guttering inadequate,” among other things.
“I consider the house a fire hazard,” Cantu said.
The Grogans were not in attendance at the hearing, but several neighboring homeowners were present to reinforce and add to Cantu’s description of the home.
Peggy Moritz, the vice-president of the Misty Woods Neighborhood Association, told the commission of the “big hole” that used to be the kitchen of the Grogan house and of the “horrendous odor” that radiates from the residence.
Tammy Childress, another upset neighbor, said she “would not have bought my home” had she known what the Grogan house would “turn into.”
“It does not represent the Misty Woods subdivision,” she said.
A very emotional Dianne Montgomery, a next door neighbor of the Grogans, said she “wouldn’t let my dogs live in the Grogan house.”
When asked by the commissioners what they wanted done with the house, Ernest Lee, the president of the Neighborhood Association, said that in his opinion, the house was beyond repair.
“We offered to help the Grogans several times,” Lee said, “but they always refused our help. Now, I think it’s too late.”
Before the commissioners made their decision at this week’s session, they heard briefly from Steven Lay, representing Country Wide Mortgage, the company that holds the mortgage on the Grogan home.
The commissioners then handed down their unanimous ruling to tear down the structure.
“We have been agonizing over this residence for months,” Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight said before the ruling was made. “We have deemed the Grogan residence to be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Platte County.”
“The Grogans have been completely unresponsive to any contact,” said Commissioner Short. The Grogans were once again not in attendance at the most recent meeting.
Now the Grogans or “any other interested parties” have 30 days to demolish, remove, or repair the building. If one of these requirements is not met, the county will then step in and demolish the building at a cost to be assessed to the owners.