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Spanish Fort to pursue nuisance proceedings for storm-damaged Patrician Drive house
Summary
Neighbors told the city council an abandoned, storm-damaged house on Patrician Drive is creating safety and public‑health problems; Mayor Michael McMillan said legal will begin nuisance proceedings that could lead to cleanup or demolition and a lien on the property.
Mayor Michael McMillan told the Spanish Fort City Council on Tuesday that city legal staff will begin nuisance proceedings after neighbors reported an abandoned, storm‑damaged house on Patrician Drive.
The property, neighbors said, has been “damaged since Hurricane Sally” and has a collapsed roof and a damaged pool house. Resident Brooke Walding told the council the lot is overgrown, blows debris into adjacent yards during storms and has become “a breeding ground for lots of feral cats,” with dead animals appearing in the neighborhood.
Walding told the council she and her neighbor Julie Wilkinson had tried to contact the owners — who she said now live in Hawaii — and that other neighbors, including Todd and Lee Matthews, had previously attempted to reach the owners to buy or repair the property. “They have no intention to return,” Walding said.
McMillan said the city has had the property “on the radar” for years and that he has “instructed legal to start proceedings for a nuisance. . . . We will clean it up or demolish it, depending on what the case may be. And we'll put a lien against the property.” He told the speakers the process includes notice to the owners and a public hearing before any final action.
City staff offered short‑term measures to reduce immediate hazards. A staff member identified as Shannon said the city had “mosquito larva tablets we can put in that pool in the meantime” to limit standing‑water mosquito breeding while the nuisance process proceeds.
Walding told the council neighbors have been incurring costs to manage mosquito threats; she said they pay about $50 per month for mosquito service because of standing water from the damaged pool. McMillan said the next formal step will be a resolution declaring the property a nuisance and a subsequent public hearing where the city will document attempts to reach the owner and determine remediation.
The council did not take a formal vote on the property during the meeting; McMillan described the legal steps the city will take going forward.
