MONROE – Moss sticks to the wiper blades of a Ford Econoline van. Its sky-blue paint is peeling. Its interior is filled with debris, boxes and trash.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
A dark blue Toyota pickup with no doors sits nearby. Broken pieces of furniture are piled on the back of another pickup. Trees and brush cover other vehicles.
“I have 25 so far now,” Brady Allard said of his count of abandoned vehicles at a 5-acre property on E. Lake Kayak Road between Monroe and Duvall.
“This is just gross,” said Allard, president of a homeowners association in the neighborhood.
The property, owned by Roland Henson, has been an eyesore for residents since the 1990s, Allard claimed. Residents said they have asked Snohomish County officials numerous times to require the property be cleaned up.
But no help appears to be on the way soon because the county doesn’t have any money budgeted for such services, even though cities such as Everett do.
Neighbors haven’t seen Henson for more than a year. He used to live in a trailer amid the discarded cars.
Nor did Henson respond to a letter that The Herald sent to his last-known post office box in Duvall.
People now dump trash at the site, Allard said. That has made it difficult for nearby homeowners to sell properties, he added.
The county had tried unsuccessfully to work with Henson to solve the situation, said Michael McCrary, inspection services enforcement manager for the county’s planning and development services.
The county took Henson to Superior Court, which ruled the junkyard at his property is in violation of county code. He faces a $2,500 fine, court documents say.
In July 2004, the county obtained a court order to clean up the property, court documents say. All costs would be levied against Henson as a lien against his property.
But the county hasn’t taken any further steps. It hasn’t estimated the cleanup cost or allocated funds for it, county officials said. And the county wouldn’t be reimbursed through the lien until the property was sold.
The county gets many complaints about junky properties, but most are resolved before requiring the county to fix a mess, said Craig Ladiser, director of the county’s planning and development services.
County Executive Aaron Reardon said he plans to ask the County Council to allocate money for cleaning up nuisance properties in 2006.
Cities such as Everett already have funds for such problems.
Everett has three full-time code compliance officers who check on properties littered with rubbish.
City spokeswoman Kate Reardon said most of the time the officers resolve cases without taking further action to clean up.
But as a last resort, the city sweeps up 10 to 15 properties annually and earmarks about $50,000 every year for such actions, she said.
At the Lake Kayak property, the Snohomish Health District also has received complaints from residents since the late 1990s, said Phebe Wall, the district’s environmental health specialist. But Henson’s property doesn’t rank as a health hazard, she said.
“We don’t look at aesthetics,” she said.
Area homeowners are at a loss for a solution.
“I’m trying to be patient. It seems like Snohomish County has a problem dealing with this,” said Richard Brown, 51, who lives nearby.
Brown said he couldn’t sell his half-acre property in 2004, even though about 100 people showed an interest.
“Until this is gone, I don’t think we are going to be able to sell it,” Brown said, looking at Henson’s property.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
