Board orders emergency demolition of 403 West 19th Street after dangerous-building hearing

The Joplin Building Board of Appeals voted Dec. 5 to declare the house at 403 West 19th Street a dangerous building and public nuisance and ordered it boarded immediately and demolished as an emergency.

City representative Andrea Knobloch opened the demolition hearing and presented evidence including neighborhood-inspection citations, a Jasper County coroner’s death report, interior and exterior photographs, fire and police reports and certified mailings documenting repeated attempts to notify interested parties. Neighborhood improvement supervisor Dustin Molinaro told the board he first became involved with the property in July 2023 after a tall‑grass complaint and later issued about 18 citations covering outdoor storage, trash, debris and an unsafe accessory structure; he identified interior photos taken June 17, 2025 that show unfinished walls, exposed wiring and missing ceiling material.

Chief building official Brian Wikland reviewed interior and exterior photographs and described multiple code violations: unfinished and water‑damaged interior sheetrock, exposed electrical wiring and junctions that appear to be used as permanent wiring, an improperly installed wood‑burning stove adjacent to combustibles, failing porch columns and a split main beam supporting the front of the house. Wikland said staff had repeatedly reposted dangerous‑building placards after they were removed and that no permits had been applied for or issued for the recent, unpermitted repair attempts.

Neighbors testified to ongoing safety and nuisance problems. Jason Kyle Lieberman, who lives nearby, said the property has been occupied by nonowners since the owner’s death, described theft of water and human‑waste incidents, and said he no longer felt safe walking past the house. Gary Duane Gray recounted past police and fire responses, including an overdose and a prior structure fire, and said the property had depressed nearby property values. The city introduced a 54‑page set of police reports listing 22 calls for service to the address in the last two years and a fire report describing a porch fire caused by smoldering ashes from the wood stove.

An occupant, Harold Apel, told the board he currently lives at the house and said he had completed many interior repairs but acknowledged he had not obtained required permits for work. When the board asked whether an emergency boarding and securing should begin immediately, staff said an on‑call contractor could start at noon.

After closing evidence, the board adopted a motion by Miss Harrington, seconded by Mr. Wiklendt, finding that the property met multiple dangerous‑building definitions in city code §26‑6‑12, constituted a public nuisance, and posed an immediate hazard to health and safety. The board declared the building an emergency, ordered it boarded and secured and found demolition to be the only reasonable remedy because the structure is damaged and not feasible to rehabilitate without a living owner of record. The city will proceed with demolition under §26‑6‑16 and the cost will be billed to the property as a special tax bill; persons on the premises were ordered to evacuate immediately.

Staff confirmed boarding would begin at noon on Dec. 5 and that persons in violation could be prosecuted. The board continued routine business after the ruling.

What happens next: the city will board and secure the structure and move forward with demolition procedures. The order states demolition costs will be assessed against the property and as a personal debt of the owner of record according to city code.