|
.� - �;�.��� `�- -��
<br />�ondemn to
<br />ho�nelessness
<br />Woman, 3 children without a home after city
<br />proclairls apartment coinplex unfit to live in
<br />BY ROBIN STANTON
<br />Heraitl WrBer
<br />h'VEREIT — Hathy Rivitt and
<br />her tluee children have no place ro
<br />Gve.
<br />'Iheir . Everett apartmen[
<br />building a[ 2922 Hoyt Ave. was
<br />condemned, deemed unfit for
<br />human habitatlon last week by the
<br />city's code enforcement depart-
<br />ment ResidenLs were told they had
<br />72 hours !o clear out and find
<br />another place to live.
<br />ThaPs hard ro do, Rivitt said,
<br />when you dodt have a lot of
<br />money, particularly in toda�s tlght
<br />rental marke[.
<br />"We had ro leave all our cbthes
<br />and betongings there," she said.
<br />"Ihe place hus tilready been
<br />bmken intu, and [he television and
<br />VCft are gone. I have no car, no
<br />food and no (unds."
<br />She had used an emergency
<br />grant from the state Department ef
<br />Social and Healfh Servicr: io move
<br />into the apartment �n February with
<br />her thcee child: en, ages 10, 6 and 4.
<br />She doesdt know �f she x�ll be
<br />ahle ro ge[ back any of the deposil
<br />or rent she has paid, and she can't
<br />quali(y for another eme�ency
<br />grant for a year, she said.
<br />When the city clased Ihe
<br />building, otficers told her to go ro
<br />the Red Cross. She went stmight
<br />there,am�ng shorUy before they
<br />closed, and filled wt appGcetions
<br />for emergency housing. She's on a
<br />weiting list, but was told that it
<br />muld take one to tluee months tor
<br />a place to open up.
<br />� 'R�e Volunteers�.�of. America,.
<br />whose tunds for�� . eme�en.ry�
<br />housin� aze.Irnv, wes eble to put
<br />them m a mo[el until 'Nesdey.
<br />Aftec that, Rivilt said,'she doesn't
<br />Imow where she w,ll tum '.
<br />The 'Everett women's shelter
<br />isn't an option, as �her-10. old
<br />son is too old ro be all to slay '
<br />there. i
<br />77�e city had no choice bu[ to
<br />ctose the building, said Caum Van
<br />Slyck, head of the otyfs code
<br />enforcement depafinent
<br />"fhe irtspecYor was appalled at
<br />the rnnditions she found," she said.
<br />Specific problems ated by the
<br />inspecxor included a nauseatlng
<br />slench, broken windows, gray
<br />water siphonir.g inro drinking
<br />warer, holes in xalls and ceilin�.s,
<br />an exterior e�tit that ends l2 feet ofl
<br />�CiME
<br />fromPageiB —
<br />�
<br />Sincethen,she said,they have
<br />had good discussions with the
<br />property owner end his laxyer on
<br />how to rectify the situation.
<br />"We emphatically disagree
<br />�+rith their report on the house,"
<br />caid Michael Phillips, the lawyer
<br />representing �roperty owner
<br />Craig Lucker. '�Ihe characteriza-
<br />tion of the building as uninhabit-
<br />able i_ egross overexaggeratlon.
<br />We've taken steps to stop any
<br />en[orcemen[ ac[ion."
<br />He said Lucker�has been sys-
<br />tematically renovating the prop-
<br />the gnund, a rotted slaircase, no
<br />plumbing in one af the rente! units,
<br />and floors en� c�pets sahuated
<br />with water, Van Slyck said
<br />"[he bottom line is that we were
<br />pretty mncemed about the kids
<br />and the adults who have to Gve
<br />vnder these rondifio�s," she said
<br />See NOME;
<br />badc page, this section
<br />erty, working on empry uni4s.
<br />He's a socielly responsible
<br />landlord who's attemphng to
<br />improve the property valae and
<br />work with the city of Everett," he
<br />said.
<br />Lucker said he has stru�led
<br />to maintain the building and keep
<br />good tenants.
<br />"Out of 13 units, onl� tour
<br />were occuPied," he said. "I d evid
<br />anyone who hsd anything to do
<br />with drug trafficking, end [ could
<br />only find four decent tenants."
<br />Hc said he'd had disputes with
<br />Rivitt over rent.
<br />Meanwhile, Rivitt is left with
<br />no place to turn.
<br />She lived in the buuding
<br />because she had no al��rru,dve,
<br />she said.
<br />I'm not contending that the
<br />citY was wrong to close the
<br />bu�din�," she said. "We've been�
<br />fighting with the owner since
<br />we've 6ved there to fix the place
<br />up.
<br />But how can it be right for the
<br />ci� to come in and tum us out on
<br />a riday aftemoon with no o[her
<br />altemadve, no place to go, no
<br />resources availabfe on the
<br />weekend," she said. "How can
<br />they just come in and say you're
<br />homeless?"
<br />You can contad RoWp
<br />StanWn 6y phone at 425.?39,TQg7
<br />or 6y e-mntl at stanton@her-
<br />aldeetrnm.
<br />
|