BOISE - The Boise City Council on Tuesday voted to deny an appeal seeking to halt the demolition of two crumbling homes in the Terra Nativa subdivision.
The City Council also decided that the cost of the demolition would be covered by the city. The city had previously ordered the homeowners to demolish the homes at their own expense.
Instagram posts shown at Boise City Council Meeting attempting to show crumbling Foothills homes are "attractive public nuisance @KTVB pic.twitter.com/y4PpGtSxfD
— gretchen parsons (@gretchenKTVB) July 25, 2017
The homes are two of the most deteriorated on Alto Via Court, which has been scene of a slow-moving landslide that has made a number of homes unlivable.
A KTVB crew went to the neighborhood on Tuesday and found that at least one of homes had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks. See the photos here.
In a May 12 legal notice to the two homeowners, the city cited public safety issues, and ordered the owners to begin demolition within 15 days. The street has been closed for more than a year, but police say they have had a continuing problem with trespassers skirting a road barrier and getting into the homes.
The homeowners took the city to court in an attempt to stop the demolition order on grounds that the crumbling homes are evidence in an upcoming lawsuit against the Ada County Highway District, the City of Boise, and two developers.
On Monday a judge ruled to delay any possible demolition until at least August 10, allowing time for the homeowners to collect video evidence of the homes.
Chad Nicholson, an attorney for the two homeowners, told KTVB after the hearing Tuesday that the City Council made the right decision when it said the city will pay for the demolition.
"I’m very happy on behalf of our clients that they are not going to have to bear the cost on this," Nicholson said. "I do think it was going to add insult to injury. I mean they have lost these homes, they are valueless, it would require them to spend more money out of pocket to destroy it."
Nicholson added that Tuesday's decision was "the best outcome we could hope for today."
