PORTLAND, Maine — Embattled Portland landlord Gregory Nisbet, whose 20-24 Noyes St. property was the site of Maine’s deadliest fire in four decades, must vacate another of his properties because of code violations found there.
On Friday, Portland city officials announced they had filed a legal complaint against Nisbet seeking a restraining order blocking the landlord from renting out units in the apartment building he owns at 188 Dartmouth St.
Nisbet was represented by attorney David Chamberlain in a hearing on the complaint Monday morning at the Cumberland County courthouse.
“We’re pleased that the judge granted our request as the property is not suitable for tenants in its current condition,” said city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin in a statement. “This order ensures that Mr. Nisbet cannot make any rental income off this property until the violations are corrected.”
Nisbet and the tenants of the Dartmouth Street building have disagreed publicly on who is responsible for the slew of code violations discovered there by city inspectors, with the landlord and residents each blaming the other.
Last month, the two parties agreed to a deal in which the tenants would move out by Feb. 15.
Chamberlain told Portland television station WGME, CBS 13, that the city’s legal action merely accelerates that timetable.
“In essence, the action by the city has resulted in speeding up the eviction process through this temporary restraining order by approximately one week,” the attorney told CBS 13 Monday outside the courthouse.
Chamberlain said that with the building empty, his client will more easily be able to fix the property and respond to the city’s demands, according to CBS 13.
At least one of the Dartmouth Street tenants suggested she was disappointed with the latest development.
“I was kind of hoping they would make him fix the property,” Roxann White, one of the building’s residents, told the television station. “Instead, he just didn’t fix the property and evicted us over me asking for further assistance. He didn’t want to do anything.”
Grondin said in a statement Monday that “city staff are working with the displaced tenants and connecting them to our social services division should they require assistance.”
“We have asked the court to schedule a hearing on March 9 to discuss the Land Use Citation Complaint that we filed on Feb. 6,” she said. “In the interim, our goal is to work with Mr. Nisbet on a consent judgment that would outline specific timelines to address the violations.”
White and other tenants of 188 Dartmouth St. went public with their complaints about the condition of their building in December, just more than a month after another of Nisbet’s buildings — 20-24 Noyes St. — was destroyed in a fire that claimed the lives of six people.
Since the Nov. 1 fire on Noyes Street, Nisbet has been named in three wrongful death lawsuits from families of fire victims, who claim the landlord did nothing to fix disabled smoke alarms or blocked exits in the building.
The blaze drew attention to a history of neighborhood complaints lodged about the Noyes Street property — 16 since 2003 — and placed Nisbet’s other properties under heavy scrutiny.
The city responded to the Dartmouth Street tenants’ complaints with a series of inspections of the building, during which inspectors found several fire and safety code violations.
The latest inspection came Friday, when inspectors allegedly discovered frozen pipes and a lack of a primary heating system in the building, in addition to uncorrected violations from a city review the previous week.
In response to the latest violations, the city announced Friday it would seek the restraining order against Nisbet.
The latest developments in the case of 188 Dartmouth St. come just a day before the City Council’s Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to consider a slate of fire and safety code inspections changes.
Acting City Manager Sheila Hill-Christian appointed a task force to review the inspections procedures in the aftermath of the Noyes Street fire. That group’s recommendations, which include the appointment of an official to oversee inspections across multiple departments, will be reviewed by the committee Tuesday before being forwarded to the full City Council.
The Nov. 1 fire at 20-24 Noyes St. claimed the lives of tenants David Bragdon Jr., 27; Ashley Thomas, 29; and Nicole Finlay, 26; as well as apartment visitors Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland; Rockland resident Steven Summers, 29; and Topsham resident Maelisha Jackson, 26.
The Noyes Street building was torn down by construction crews on Friday.
