BANGOR, Maine — Without dissent, the Bangor City Council voted Monday to declare dangerous and order the demolition of a burned-out house at 44 Patten St. over the objections of the property’s apparent owner.
“It’s my opinion that the building at 44 Patten St. in Bangor is a dangerous building as it’s unsafe, unstable, structurally unsound, a fire hazard, unsuitable for property occupancy as a residence and is dangerous,” Code Enforcement Officer Jeremy Martin told the council before the vote.
Charlton Butler Jr., husband of the property’s registered owner, Twila Wolf, told the council he should have more time to respond because they were not properly notified. He told the council he only learned of the demolition proposal through social media.
“You have failed to serve due process in any way shape or form, and my family founded this country for that very thing, to get rid of people that can’t seem to understand that it’s the law of land, not the man that runs it,” he said, leaving the meeting before the council vote.
Butler also told the council he is still seeking to repair the property, having requested that the “insurance commission” talk to his insurance company.
The Butlers have 30 days to appeal the decision to state Superior Court. City Solicitor Norm Heitmann said they anticipate an appeal in the matter.
The council voted to remove a provision in the order that would have given the Butlers 30 days to repair the property, finding that prospect to be unrealistic. Councilor Gibran Graham dissented on that amendment.
Butler told the council on June 8 that his attorney would contact the city by the end of the week. Heitmann and Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas said Monday they were not contacted, though Butler did pick up a copy of the notice the day after the meeting.
Martin said the city placarded the building as unsafe for human habitation in January 2013 after carbon monoxide poisoning from a homemade coal stove sickened three individuals.
“It was determined that the operation of the coal stove constituted the operation of dangerous equipment and was an imminent fire hazard,” he said.
He said the city sent two letters in February and June 2013 reminding the owners of what needed to be done to fix the property, but fire gutted the home on July 29, 2013.
In a memorandum, city officials said they gave all interested parties, including several lenders, 120 days to repair the structure.
Attempts to contact the Butlers at their registered address of 44 Patten St. were not successful, but the city did publish notices in the Bangor Daily News in advance of the meeting, Martin said.
Court records show the Butlers mostly represented themselves in a lengthy foreclosure dispute over the property with TD Bank, beginning in September 2010.
During the dispute, Twila Wolf’s attorney with Pine Tree Legal Assistance Inc. withdrew from the case, writing in a March 2011 motion that the client was insisting that counsel pursue a course of action that was contrary to the advice of legal counsel.
After failed attempts at mediation, the bank secured a judgment of $37,820 — including $18,903 in attorney fees and interest — in December 2012. But the bank filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the judgment in January 2014, after fire gutted the property.
During the case, the Butlers attempted unsuccessfully to move the dispute to federal court and an appeal was dismissed as untimely. The Penobscot County Superior Court dismissed the case without prejudice on Jan. 29, 2014.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.