City plans to sue Hotel Marysville's underlying owners for damages after demolition ruling
MARYSVILLE – Ever since Hotel Marysville caught fire on June 15, it's been hurting businesses, impacting traffic and raising questions about public safety.
A recent hearing involving outside judges ruled the building as a "nuisance" and ordered the hotel owners to demolish the building.
Since the ruling, the city of Marysville says they haven't heard from the owners.
Tuesday was the 100th anniversary of starting the construction of the Hotel Marysville. A century later and it's still here, but now with significant fire damage.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, there was a unanimous vote to sue the underlying owners of the building for damages. The city says will take things to a whole new level.
"Well, this is going put pressure on the owner," Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum said.
CBS13 sat down with the Marysville mayor in an exclusive interview. He says they plan to file a damages lawsuit next week against the hotel owners, not their representatives, but against the building's LLC and its underlying owners.
"We're going to find out all the history. We're going to find out who the owners are. We're going to look into the owners, and then we're going to put them at financial risk," he said.
The building has been managed by Urban Smart Growth, but the real owner of the hotel is Feather River Plaza LLC. They're currently being represented by DJK Counsel out of Southern California.
"We are looking to pierce the liability veil normally afforded to an LLC and get to the underlying owners where the real financial resources are that can resolve this problem so the city is not $3 million on its own to take this damn building down," said Mayor Branscum.
The attorney representing the LLC did not return CBS13's request for information or an interview on Wednesday. But in a press release they shared with us last month was a petition they created to save the building, citing its historical significance, something they cited again in the most recent public hearing.
The owners say it's possible the building could be saved and there's no way to know until a full investigation can be done, but the building is too unsafe for that. The panel ruled it a public nuisance that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.
"The panel ruled that the owner had responsibility. It is a nuisance and the panel ordered the owners to provide us with demolition or some plan to address the building within 10 days. That 10 days has passed," said Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad.
The city says the hotel owner has not yet come forward with a plan but the owner has a right to appeal the panel's decision. The city says adding the lawsuit they unanimously voted to file next week will change the dynamic.
"There's been ample opportunity for the building to be restored. I was hopeful it would be restored prior to the fire. I am not optimistic it has a chance of being restored," said Schaad.
A piece of the building came down on a breezy day. When it rains, city officials are worried about what kind of debris could be washing down the drains, like asbestos.
"We really need to bring this property back from a liability to the community to an asset to the community," said Schaad.
The city of Marysville plans to file the damages lawsuit next week.