PARK CITY — The Stillwater County Health Department has ruled that all residents living in the Homestead Apartments need to be off the property Friday.
The decision comes due to years of alleged neglect by the landlord, resulting in multiple health and safety complaints and inspection concerns.
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On Thursday, owner Gary Weitz gave MTN a tour of the property.
"I would classify it as generally low-income housing,” Weitz said. “It was in similar condition as to when I bought it."
There have been documented issues with The Homestead apartment, including a sewage issue that ran into the school, along with inspection concerns.
Weitz said that he had an approved inspection done in September, but that the county hasn't acknowledged it.
“Those reports were passed on to the county in September," Weitz said. "They have still not acknowledged that to have passed."
Homestead maintenance employee Coy Owens said that despite what the documents said, he and Weitz made repairs as quickly as possible.
“Whenever it needs to be fixed," Coy said. "Either I will fix it or Gary will fix it."
Owens' wife, Cindy Owens, said that should be expected in an older building. The Owenses live in Shepherd in a trailer park also owned by Weitz.
“If you have a 100-year-old place, you’re going to have normal wear and tear,” Cindy said.
The Owenses said that Weitz is a great landlord.
“He’ll help you out when he can," Coy said. "Pretty much gives people a chance."
Still, the county decided to cut the sewage line to Homestead. Residents including Amanda Foster and her husband were forced to look for a new place.
“There was nothing else available," Foster said. "We tried."
Weitz helped set up Foster in his same Shepherd trailer park.
"He’s always been straightforward with us," Foster said. "He didn’t hide anything that was going on."
Regardless, the county decided that the past troubles were too much to overcome. Weitz said he disagrees.
“I mean, it’s clear to me that something is driving this process other than normal procedures with the government,” Weitz said.
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