Highland Park Considers Demolishing Severely Neglected Home
HIGHLAND PARK (CBSDFW.COM) — A Highland Park home may be headed for demolition after the town condemned it after years of neglect.
Not only do town officials and neighbors say the house is uninhabitable, they say it's also a fire hazard.
Officials told owner Scott Brei in March that his home was in severe disrepair and in violation of a laundry list of code ordinances.
The house's roof is sagging, the living room ceiling is failing, there's water damage and the guest house has a fallen tree on it that's been there for months. It was said to be such a hazard that the town ordered the electricity to be disconnected and the premises vacated.
Brei is currently in the Denton County Jail on a contempt of court charge, and one of his ex-wives told town council that he's heavily behind on child support payments.
He told the council several months ago that he wanted to repair the home, but the town says he's failed to provide a comprehensive engineering report. Now there's a demolition order on the house.
Neighbors said the house is jeopardizing the safety of their families.
Kristin Daniels, a neighbor of the house, said she is scared every day that the house is going to catch fire.
"We have squirrels living in the rafter, we have holes in the walls. It's a fire hazard, it's so dangerous," Daniels said, "I called my insurance company to make sure we're insured."
The town is giving Brei one more month to try to find a solution, but will begin considering demolition bids Aug. 26.
The cost of demolition would be around $18,000.