AUBURN - A red house on Owasco Road condemned for years was demolished by the city of Auburn Tuesday.
Workers ripped down the house, located at 120 Owasco St., a three-unit apartment building whose owners are now deceased, alleviating what neighbor Greg Rigby saw as a major eyesore along state Route 38A.
“Route 38A is a main corridor into the city of Auburn, and this piece of property is right at the edge of town,” Rigby said. “After this house is torn down it would be nice to find a way to turn this piece of property into an asset for the community.”
According to Brian Hicks, the director of Auburn's Code Enforcement, a couple from Sunnyvale, Calif., purchased the land and building in the late 1980s.
Eng Hau Lim and his wife were absentee landlords, Hicks said, renting the building's units to tenants in Auburn while continuing to reside in California.
When the Lims died, the land was put in trust to the Lim Living Trust. Hicks said the last contact made with the trust's heirs or executors was close to three years ago, but they haven't spoken since.
“No one can find them,” he said. “We don't know if they exist.”
Hicks said the building had been condemned more than seven years ago, an act the city takes when a building, due to lack of utilities, is uninhabitable. The executors of the trust were notified of the situation, Hicks said, but did not take action to fix the property.
The structure was soon deemed structurally unsafe and the order was made to demolish it.
The land will remain in the ownership of the Lim Living Trust.
Rigby, who had at one point offered to purchase the land, said that he hopes two things come of the demolition.
“First, I hope that the estate in California receives the bill for the demolition and, frankly, pay it so that the taxpayers aren't left flipping the bill for an absentee landlord and their lack of responsibility,” he said.
“Secondly, I hope that absentee landlord then turns around and puts that piece of property up for sale so someone in Auburn - either myself or a neighbor or someone else - buys the property and does something with it that doesn't make it an eyesore for Auburn.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239
“Route 38A is a main corridor into the city of Auburn, and this piece of property is right at the edge of town,” Rigby said. “After this house is torn down it would be nice to find a way to turn this piece of property into an asset for the community.”
According to Brian Hicks, the director of Auburn's Code Enforcement, a couple from Sunnyvale, Calif., purchased the land and building in the late 1980s.
Eng Hau Lim and his wife were absentee landlords, Hicks said, renting the building's units to tenants in Auburn while continuing to reside in California.
When the Lims died, the land was put in trust to the Lim Living Trust. Hicks said the last contact made with the trust's heirs or executors was close to three years ago, but they haven't spoken since.
“No one can find them,” he said. “We don't know if they exist.”
Hicks said the building had been condemned more than seven years ago, an act the city takes when a building, due to lack of utilities, is uninhabitable. The executors of the trust were notified of the situation, Hicks said, but did not take action to fix the property.
The structure was soon deemed structurally unsafe and the order was made to demolish it.
The land will remain in the ownership of the Lim Living Trust.
Rigby, who had at one point offered to purchase the land, said that he hopes two things come of the demolition.
“First, I hope that the estate in California receives the bill for the demolition and, frankly, pay it so that the taxpayers aren't left flipping the bill for an absentee landlord and their lack of responsibility,” he said.
“Secondly, I hope that absentee landlord then turns around and puts that piece of property up for sale so someone in Auburn - either myself or a neighbor or someone else - buys the property and does something with it that doesn't make it an eyesore for Auburn.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239
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