The owner of 96 Locust Street, Michael Howe / MBH Development, was hit with fines totaling almost $35,000 Thursday in Lockport City Court.
The fines were levied by Judge Thomas DiMillo at the conclusion of the city’s prosecution of Howe for more than 30 building code violations cited at 96 Locust, a 12-unit apartment house, prior to the Oct. 19 fire that destroyed it.
The citations included excess garbage, no carbon monoxide or smoke alarms, interior damage, exterior damage, roof damage and a lack of handrails.
The large house on the northwestern corner of Locust and Genesee streets had been in the city’s sights since last summer, when the city petitioned the court for declaration of 96 Locust as a “nuisance” property because it had been the subject of 79 calls to police over the prior 12-month period. The complaints ranged from disturbances of the peace to drug overdoses, drug possession and mental health issues.
Howe was facing the prospect of having to evict of all his tenants and shut down his rental business for a year when the house was hit by fire. Lockport Fire Department determined the cause was arson. On the Building Inspection department’s finding that the house was unsafe and unrepairable, the Common Council ordered it demolished.
96 Locust was demolished on Jan. 30. The city hired Durable Demolition to do the demolition and cleanup for $35,000, with the intent to pass on the bill to Howe.
Of the fines recommended by the city in the code case against Howe, city prosecutor Anthony Serianni said the total amount of fines was based on the lowest bid for the demolition work.
Howe was ordered to pay the fines by April 11.
Howe declined to comment on the proceedings after court, upon the advice of his attorney, Mark Aquino. Howe is due back in city court on Feb. 22 to address code violations at another property he owns, 88 Olcott Street.