Building standards hearing: dozen properties declared hazardous; multiple owners given 30–90 days, nuisance fines ordered

The Fort Worth Building Standards Commission on May 18 processed a long hearing agenda, declaring a series of residential and commercial properties substandard and hazardous, setting compliance deadlines, and issuing nuisance-abatement orders and civil penalties where prior enforcement had failed.

City code officers presented evidence across many cases — examples included 2219 Ross Avenue (HS-2659), 2121 Miller Avenue (HS-2663), 5101 Nell Street (HS-2656), and numerous Administrative Civil Penalty matters in which staff recommended $100 per day for 44 days ($4,400) when no measurable progress had been made. In multiple cases petitioners or owners requested extra time; the commission regularly referred owners to the amendment process and in several cases granted 60 or 90 days when staff concurred.

At 2219 Ross Avenue, code officer Franklin Young described fire damage and ongoing structural hazards; an interested party representing the owner, Ahmad Mustafa, asked the commission for 90 days to complete cleanup and repairs: "I need like uh 90 days," Mustafa told commissioners. The commission declared the primary and accessory structures substandard and hazardous and set a repair-or-demolish deadline per the record (motions and specific day counts varied by case).

In nuisance-abatement proceedings the commission repeatedly approved motions to abate and to assess civil penalties when owners made little progress. For example, the city sought and the commission approved a civil penalty of $100 per day for 44 days (total $4,400) in several ACP cases (examples on May 18 included ACP-2661 at 1020 E. Bowie St., ACP-2665 Fletcher Ave., and others). In many of those cases the commission simultaneously gave owners 90 days to abate and reminded them they could pursue an amendment or appeal.

Commissioners routinely emphasized the amendment process as the mechanism to request more time, and staff advised owners about available disposal vouchers and other assistance; in several cases buyers or third-party purchasers told the commission they had paid to clear debris and asked for additional days to finish abatement. The commission closed the meeting after completing the full agenda.

The orders issued at the hearing create immediate deadlines and give city staff authority to perform abatement and lien costs to properties that remain in violation; owners retain the right to appeal to Tarrant County District Court within 30 days of mailed orders.