Property Owner Drops Demolition Appeal

Kent City Council learned Wednesday that the owner of the house at 509 Franklin Ave., once targeted for razing, plans to drop his appeal to the demolition plans.

Kent Community Development Department Director Bridget Susel told council that Caven McLoughlin, the owner of the house, has offered to give the house to the city via a quit-claim deed to speed its deconstruction.

Susel said the city is willing to accept McLoughlin’s offer with the condition that he grant the transfer via a warranty deed, which would certify that the house has a clean title with no liens, and provided the city pay no closing or other related costs.

“This would allow us to expedite the demolition process,” she said.

The city initially targeted the house for demolition as a vacant, blighted property in 2009 following a fire there in 2007 with no obvious efforts to repair the damage.

But this year McLoughlin filed an appeal to the city’s demolition plans based in part on a court case over squatting involving the property.

The appeal had twice gone before the Kent Board of Zoning Appeals, which as recently as May 21 granted McLoughlin a 60-day recess in the demolition appeal case.

At the time, McLoughlin’s attorney, Diana Prehn, declined to disclose the reasoning for the recess.

Now it’s clear the recess was requested to evaluate the quit-claim deed option.

Council voted unanimously in committee Wednesday to move ahead with the transfer and demolition.

“So in essence we’ll own a vacant lot” after the demolition, Councilman Roger Sidoti said.

“We will have to figure out what will be done with it,” Susel said. “The discussion of giving it to a non-profit has come up.”

She said the house could be demolished and the lot cleared as early as September.

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• More Delay in Demolition Appeal

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