Atchison sets 100-day deadline for repair or demolition of 1034 Santa Fe Street

The Atchison City Commission on June 16, 2025, amended Resolution 3421 to give the owner of 1034 Santa Fe Street 100 days to repair or remove the house, a change the panel approved in a roll-call vote.

The commission acted after a public hearing in which Jessica Burton, the property heir and executor of the estate, said she has a buyer who wants to rehabilitate the house but is waiting on probate approval. "I've had several people look at the property to say that it's not at the point it needs to be tore down," Burton said, adding that her lawyer is out of the office for about a month.

Code enforcement officer Curtis Wheeler summarized the staff recommendation and cited structural concerns. "The city is gonna request a 30 day demolition order on this one just based upon the condition, the foundation, the brick wall, the lack of water, just deterioration and decay," Wheeler said during the hearing, then described the commission s setting a longer deadline to allow a sale or documented repair plan.

Commissioners said they preferred to give time for a buyer to come forward but wanted to avoid open-ended delays. Commissioner Slattery moved to amend the resolution to 100 days; a second was made. The commission then approved the amended resolution in a roll-call vote: Commissioner Slattery voted yes; Mayor Mary Young voted yes; Vice Mayor Wilcox voted no; Commissioner Greenlee voted yes; Commissioner Murphy voted yes. The amendment makes the repair-or-remove deadline 100 days from the meeting date (the resolution text identifies the deadline date as July 16, 2025).

Under the amended resolution the owner is ordered to repair or remove the structure by the stated deadline. City staff said that if the property sells during the extension, the new owner would be required to appear before the commission with a scope-of-work and time frame for repairs or demolition, and the demolition order would remain in effect absent such a plan.

During the hearing neighbors and commissioners also raised safety concerns about loose brick and a settling foundation; staff said water service has been disconnected and the house shows signs of decay. Burton said the prospective buyer—xpects to flip the property but that completing repairs likely would take longer than the 100-day window if work had to start only after probate is resolved.

The commission advised Burton to keep in close contact with code enforcement staff and to have any buyer present documentation of contract, financing or engineer reports if a sale is completed before the deadline.