LinksBoulevard Nursery Garden and Gift Shop at 2021 Boulevard Road S.E. closed in August 2008 and since has fallen into disrepair, angering neighbors and leaving many wondering about the future of the 1-acre parcel.
Olympia Code Enforcement Officer Chris Grabowski posted orange “condemned” signs on the property, warning people about the substandard nature of the property. Condemnation of the property also makes it a misdemeanor violation to be on site unless the person visiting the site is trying to correct the problem, he said.
Grabowski first was alerted to problems at the site by neighbors in April and since has tried unsuccessfully to reach owner Jeff Nevin. The city also has fined Nevin more than $1,000 for trash, debris and dilapidated structures on the site, Grabowski said.
“And they only get more expensive from here,” he said about the fines. “As long as the condition persists, I’m going to keep fining him.”
Nevin could not be reached, but Thurston County assessor information shows that Nevinland LLC paid $290,000 for the property in August 2001. Nevin later became the sole property owner, and assessor information shows a mailing address for him in the Eastern Washington town of Davenport.
In May, the property was scheduled to go to auction as part of a foreclosure proceeding at the Thurston County Courthouse, but it did not sell, said Darren Krattli, a Tacoma attorney representing the lender, West Coast Bank.
A second effort to sell the property at auction in June was discontinued, although some buyers are interested in buying the bank’s position on the loan, or spending about $140,000 to acquire the loan and then proceed with their own foreclosure process, Krattli said. For the moment, though, there has been no change in ownership, he said.
The next step for the city could be to go to Thurston County Superior Court and seek a warrant of abatement, a process that could potentially allow the city to access the property and clean it up, city attorney Tom Morrill said. The cost of cleaning up the property then would be charged back to the owner, he said.
Meanwhile, the property is a mess and it stinks, neighbor Roger Osborne said. Osborne has lived next to the property for more than 20 years. He has seen rats on the property.
Every now and then a car pulls up and somebody gets out to look at the property, Osborne said. “It’s just very unsightly, and it doesn’t smell all that good,” he said.
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
