A judge has ruled in favor of the city of St. Joseph in the ongoing fight over a blighted property on Niles Avenue. At Monday’s meeting, the city attorney informed commissioners a judge has sided with a city panel’s decision that a dilapidated house at 1015 Niles Avenue be demolished. You may know the house as the one near the AT&T store that’s had a tarp on the roof for quite a long time. The city has been seeking the blighted home’s demolition for most of the year after local inspectors determined it to be unlivable. Now that the Berrien County Circuit Court has found in the city’s favor, there is a 21 day appeal period. If that happens, it would be before the Michigan Court of Appeals. The city’s attorney told commissioners she has not yet heard of an appeal being filed, though. She also said repair work continues on other blighted homes on Wayne and Hoyt Street owned by the same person.
