Cochise County officials have asked a superior court judge to allow abatement of safety issues or public nuisances on four properties, and to order recordable judgments against those properties for the amount of fines owed.
Deputy County Attorney Paul Correa noted in each of the civil complaints for injunctive relief that the four properties were previously tagged for violations which have not been resolved. As a result, thousands of dollars are owed to the county for unpaid fines.
The first civil action involves one parcel of undeveloped land in San Simon in the northwest corner of Cochise County. The parcel is located within a General Business zoning district and is owned by Melvin Eugene Brown of Newark, Ohio, according to Correa.
In July 2020, a county zoning inspector issued a violation notice to Brown in connection to a dilapidated non-residential structure on the property. It was the third inspection of the property dating back to October 2018, and ended with Cochise County’s hearing officer declaring the parcel a public nuisance for unpermitted outdoor storage.
Due to the violation, which Brown did not challenge, a fine was imposed Aug. 24, 2020 of $50 per day for non-abatement of the violation, on top of a one-time $750 fine.
It is unclear from the county’s lawsuit whether the notices to Brown’s Ohio address were returned as undeliverable or not. However, one reason Brown may not have protested the violation hearing nor sought to clean up his property is that public records show he died in January 2018.
The other three recently filed lawsuits involve property owned by John A. Williams III, including a parcel on Second Street in Fry Township, a county enclave surrounded by the City of Sierra Vista.
According to Correa, the Fry Street parcel may be zoned MH-72, Multiple Housing Residential, but a mobile home has been placed on the property without proper permits. Nor has Williams removed the mobile home despite prior notices, the most recent issued in January.
Williams was given until Feb. 28 to remedy and abate the violation. When he failed to do so, he too started accruing a $50 per day fine in addition to a one-time fine of $750.
Cochise County is asking a superior court judge to order Williams to not interfere with the inspection of the mobile home to determine ownership and registration. In addition, the judge is being asked to award the county its costs for abating the nuisance property and to issue a recordable judgment for the accrued fines.
The second and third lawsuits against Williams involve residential parcels in the 500 block of East Apache Street near the Town of Huachuca.
A county violation / hazard report for one of the parcels notes Zoning Inspector Chris Saylor conducted an inspection in April based on an open complaint from July 2020. Saylor found construction material improperly located on the property despite a prior cleanup order. In addition, the report “a half dismantled golf cart and debris all over the property.”
The judge has been asked for an order requiring Williams “to remove the junk from the subject property” and for a judgment in Cochise County’s favor reflecting the outstanding fines since Feb. 28.
A neighboring parcel was also initially written up for a zoning violation in July 2020 due to the presence of two RVs on the property. Fines were ordered against the property in January but Williams “has neither abated the violation nor paid any portion of the fine,” Correa wrote in the lawsuit on behalf of Cochise County.
An order allowing county officials to inspect the RVs, and even move them if necessary, is requested of the judge. And to award a recordable judgment for the fines.
Williams has 20 days to respond to the county’s legal action once formally served with the complaints. Brown -or his heirs- will have 30 days once service is effected, assuming the county has a deliverable address. Additional information about Cochise County’s zoning regulations can be found at https://www.cochise.az.gov/231/Planning-Zoning-Division