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Board upholds Sixth Avenue abatement, halves fees and gives one-week window for repairs
Summary
The Abatement Appeals Board upheld a DBI order for a Sixth Avenue unit, agreed to hold enforcement for one week to allow repairs and inspections, and applied an assessment of costs at half the preliminary amount after finding outreach and procedural issues.
The Abatement Appeals Board voted March 19 to uphold the Department of Building Inspection’s order of abatement for the Sixth Avenue case (6785505), but it modified the financial assessment and held enforcement in abeyance for one week to permit repairs and inspections.
Staff outlined that Unit 3 of a five-unit building had a November notice of violation relating to a shared bathtub drain requiring plumbing work; access and communication problems between owner and tenant delayed resolution. Staff estimated assessment of costs at around $2,000 and said the repairs were straightforward if access could be achieved.
Owner Jay Wong’s counsel, Joe Bravo, told the board that access and key issues had been resolved and asked the board to excuse the $2,000 assessment on the grounds that the owner missed a director’s hearing because of a court appearance. Owner Jay Wong said he had tried to arrange plumbers and blamed access problems and changing phone numbers for delays.
Tenants and family members contradicted the owner’s account. Tenant relatives and a tenant said the owner often failed to show up for scheduled appointments and that long-standing problems remained. A plumber who inspected the site said the repair could take about a day once the wall is opened to replace aged piping.
Commissioners expressed concern over the conflicting accounts, whether a continuance request had reached the hearing officer in time, and the need for a firm schedule to complete work. The board debated whether assessment-of-costs could be reduced. Commissioner Walker moved to uphold the order, hold enforcement in abeyance for one week to allow the work and inspections, and initially to assess costs; commissioners then agreed to a modified motion that applied an assessment at half the staff’s preliminary amount. The motion passed unanimously on roll call.
Under the board’s action, the order will remain in place but enforcement will be delayed for one week to allow the owner and tenant to effect repairs and obtain inspection sign-off; the assessment of costs will be applied at a reduced amount while staff follows up.
