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Council schedules June 16 hearing on condemned Fed and Happy building after repeated code failures
Summary
City staff told council the Fed and Happy facility at 3405 E. 4th Ave has a long history of noncompliance, structural collapse and ongoing unsafe conditions; council set a public hearing for June 16 to determine condemnation or required repairs. Owner urged more time, citing scientific research and removal work under way.
City staff told the Hutchinson City Council on May 25 that the commercial structure at 3405 East 4th Avenue—operated as Fed and Happy—remains an unsafe and dangerous building after years of missed deadlines, incomplete repairs and continuing operations without a valid certificate of occupancy. The council voted to set a public hearing for June 16, 2026, to determine whether the structure should be condemned, ordered repaired, or demolished.
Jason Lady, the city’s building official, described a long compliance history dating to 2010, an occupancy change recorded in 2019 without a valid certificate of occupancy, a partial collapse in 2024, repeated permit expirations and extensions, and continued operations despite orders to vacate. “Repeated opportunities for compliance have produced limited, temporary progress followed by regression,” Lady said, recommending a hearing to provide formal due process and consider condemnation or repair orders.
Owner Dean Razer, who addressed council after the staff presentation, disputed parts of the staff account and urged more time. “Over $400,000 has been spent on this project,” Razer said. He described removing more than 5,000 tons of material and asked the city to allow continued access to care for specialized worm stock used in university research, saying the worms and their castings are part of an NIH‑linked study.
Lady said the building is currently boarded, unsafe for occupancy, and that prior extensions—granted to allow progress—had not resulted in sustained compliance. He noted the building trades board upheld requirements such as a sprinkler system and denied phase permitting after review, and that some life‑safety systems are not installed or operational. Lady recommended council fix a hearing date so owners, lienholders and occupants may appear and present information.
Council members voted unanimously to set the hearing for June 16, 2026. The hearing will give the owner an opportunity to show cause why the structure should not be condemned or ordered repaired; if condemnation is ordered, the city may proceed with further action consistent with code and with subsequent council authorization.
What happens next: The public hearing on June 16 will be the formal venue for the council to review evidence, hear testimony from staff and the owner, and decide whether to issue condemnation or repair orders and to set related timelines or enforcement measures.
