City Won’t Try to Shutter Building

By Chris Rickert, The Wisconsin State Journal

Jul. 13–The city of Madison agreed Thursday to delay any attempt to shutter a South Side apartment building now that its owner has taken steps to eliminate drug activity and fix building code violations that city officials say have plagued the property in recent years.

Li Zhang, the owner of the four-unit building at 910 W. Badger Road in the Burr Oaks neighborhood, has evicted tenants from three of the units and filed paperwork on July 6 to evict the renter from the fourth, according to Madison Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Zilavy.

Zhang agreed to meet twice a month with Zilavy and Madison police so they can share any concerns about the property.

A 44-page complaint filed April 19 details dozens of police calls and alleged property maintenance violations at the building beginning in mid-2005, including alleged drug sales and domestic disturbances.

The city sought to ask a judge to declare the property a nuisance, evict the tenants and force its sale.

The property “was seriously out of control and a serious nuisance,” Zilavy told Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi in a brief hearing Thursday, but since the complaint was filed, Zhang “has been working with (the city) to resolve issues.

“As a result of her evicting those people … the calls for police

service have gone down,” she said.

Zhang’s attorney, Tim Yanacheck, told Sumi his client did not agree that her property was a nuisance but nonetheless was agreeing to meet with city officials twice a month — at least initially — over the next six months.

Doing so will be an “opportunity for Ms. Zhang to get the help that she may need from time to time from the city Police Department and the building department,” Yanacheck said.

Sumi said a status hearing in the case would be set for six months from now.

Zilavy said Zhang owns two or three other apartment buildings in Madison and she is not aware of similar problems at those.

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