County still chipping at nuisance property in Orchards

“There’s not a lot I can do with it while it’s in this process. I’m kind of stunned by it,” said Kevin Pridemore, the county’s code enforcement manager.

Pridemore said he thought the county would have an order within six months.

“We try to impart on customers it can take a while to get through the legal chain, but this is a lot longer than I was thinking this would be. It seems like an awful long period of time,” he said.

Already more than two years have passed since the county began working with the property owner, William Rathgeber, to correct multiple local and state law violations at 6114 N.E. 112th Ave., in Orchards. But after numerous warnings and monthly visits, the property is still not up to code.

Now, the county wants the court to order Rathgeber to immediately stop building on his property. It is seeking a warrant for Clark County sheriff’s deputies to enter the property to correct the nuisances.

The complaint also seeks to have an engineer clean up the site and bill Rathgeber. The county wants to recover costs of the abatement in an amount to be proved at trial.

As of Jan. 4, the county has levied $415,700 in liens against the property, Pridemore said.

Code enforcement officers inspect the property every two to four weeks, or when they receive a complaint about a new violation. Deputies also routinely drive by the property and check in, he said.

No one is supposed to enter the house, because the county deemed it a dangerous structure. Code enforcement discovered that the occupants had trenched under the house and built a basement; the structure was being propped up with posts. Anyone caught inside the house could be arrested for trespassing, Pridemore said.

Still, he said it appears people are still staying on the property.

Someone called code enforcement several weeks ago requesting a dumpster to remove debris. The county previously removed 12,400 pounds of junk, so Pridemore told them no.

“We already helped them once, and it didn’t amount to anything noticeable,” he said.

Since October 2014, the county has repeatedly warned Rathgeber about building without permits and other nuisances. The violations first came to the county’s attention after Rathgeber applied for a building permit. Over the next three months, county staff worked with him to bring the property into compliance, but multiple violations remained.

The county in January 2015 sent a notice to the property outlining the violations. Code enforcement then received a call from a representative of Rathgeber, saying they were working on correcting the violations. Rathgeber never appealed the notice and order, and code enforcement continued to work with him to bring the property into compliance.

But after its 10th inspection in October 2015, code enforcement found a storage container was still present, and Rathgeber had started construction of the basement without permits. He failed to stop construction despite code enforcement’s demands.

The county continued to inspect the property almost monthly through 2015 and 2016. Several issues in the initial notice and order were corrected, but others replaced them. And Clark County Public Works was forced to remove a storage container that was within the county’s right of way when Rathgeber didn’t remove it.

When a reporter with The Columbian visited the property March 7, a man working there — who didn’t wish to be interviewed — said someone stays at the property to watch over it.

Drug, firearms case

Rathgeber has been in custody at the Clark County Jail since November on multiple drug and firearms charges. He was also arrested in May on similar charges but was released on bail. Both arrests were the result of law enforcement raids at his property. His criminal cases are still pending.

It’s unclear if his in-custody status is playing a role in scheduling the civil case. His civil attorney, Jason Hirshon of Slinde Nelson Stanford in Portland, said he couldn’t comment on that.

“We consider this a significant issue and one we want to push,” said Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Chris Horne, who is handling the complaint.

Horne said it’s not unusual for civil cases of this nature to take time to move through the legal system. However, it’s possible it could be resolved short of trial, he said.

Hirshon said the case is in the beginning stages and everyone is getting up to speed.

“The goal would be to hopefully get this resolved and everyone happy before the trial date. I think that’s the goal in any case,” he said.

In the meantime, the case is going to sit on Pridemore’s desk.

“Nothing is going to change here. We are going to treat it like any other case,” he said.