Council affirms hearing officer's dangerous-building order for 141 Orchard; owner objects to council jurisdiction

The City Council on Oct. 7 affirmed a June 26, 2025 hearing officer order finding 141 Orchard Street a dangerous building and ordered compliance within the timeframe set in the adopted order.

Owner's objection: Property owner Richard Schoemaker (spelled in the record as Schumaker/Schumacher in oral remarks) attended the show-cause hearing and submitted a written statement asserting the report underlying the process was untimely. He argued the report was due by July 21 and that a later filing "was untimely and cannot retroactively confer jurisdiction on this council," and he said he was preserving jurisdictional objections that were pending in federal court. The owner said he would not address substantive questions beyond his jurisdictional statement and provided a signed hard copy of his protest.

Staff and legal response: City staff said the matters raised by the owner had been addressed with the court and that the federal case was stayed; the hearing process had begun earlier. City legal counsel and the mayor noted the hearing officer's order dated June 26, 2025, was before council for acceptance, modification or disapproval.

Council action: Councilmember Meadows moved and the council voted to adopt and affirm Hearing Officer Lapka's order dated 06/26/2025 (the "Order Following Show Cause Hearing"). Roll call vote was recorded: Altman Yes; Meadows Yes; Watson No; Singh Yes; Mayor Brookover Yes. The motion passed 4-1. The mayor signed the order contemporaneously; the clerk was instructed to file it.

Ending: The council action affirms the administrative process for dangerous buildings in this case and preserves the owner's option to appeal to circuit court; the order directs compliance and sets the next enforcement step per the municipal process.