City set to tear down abandoned properties

The Shalimar Inn on Highway 66 is on the city of Gallup's condemnation report. The Shalimar and several other properties around Gallup are going to be discussed by the city and possibly demolished because they have deemed a menace to the public's comfort, health, peace or safety. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

Pictured is one of the rooms at the Shalimar Inn. The rooms at the Shalimar are supposed to be locked. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

GALLUP — Officially, the two west-end buildings of the Shalimar Inn, on West U.S. Highway 66, have been out of business for years. But even after a quick inspection of the place, it's obvious that hasn't kept guests from stopping by.

Mold had yet to set in on a half-eaten pie that lay in the middle of a ground floor hallway Monday afternoon, the remains of someone's recent meal. Doors lay flat on the ground, knocked off the hinges of doorways that opened up to rooms filled with graffiti and broken furniture.

Despite city notices urging the owner, Jim Rashid, and a former prospective buyer to secure the buildings, and their repeated efforts to comply, the place remains a safety hazard, according to City Planner Lisa Baca Diaz.

Though perhaps one of the city's larger and more visible eyesores, set off from any other buildings around it on the south side of Historic Route 66, the Shalimar is not alone. It's one of a handful of abandoned properties around Gallup five to be exact the city wants either cleaned up and brought up to code or torn down in short order.

More than eyesores, these places can pose a danger to both the people who seek shelter inside their crumbling walls and the residents who live around them. The abandoned rooms surrounding the Log Cabin Lodge, a well-known local stop-over for transients, caught fire in April, 2004. Two transients were rescued from the scene.

Some city staff have, off the record, expressed frustration with the City Council for not dealing with abandoned properties quicker. The Shalimar, for instance, has been on the city's watch list since at least September of 2003. Negotiations between Rashid and a prospective buyer, who eventually backed out, delayed action in that case.

Recently, the council did take a major step toward tearing down four of the five buildings on its list most of them private homes by officially condemning them. Three of the four owners have until Friday to stop or at least delay the city by appealing to the McKinley County District Court. One has another chance to appeal to the council.

After that, the city's wrecking crews can move in any time. By Monday afternoon, City Attorney George Kozeliski said he had yet to hear from a single owner.

Once the city tears down a building, Kozeliski said, it puts a lien on the property and offers it for sale to recoup the cost of the demolition. If the property is sold for anything above that cost, he said, the difference goes to the original owner. Whether the property sells, the owner still has 90 days to buy his land back. If, after all that, neither the owner nor anyone else buys the property, it's the city's do with as it chooses.

The city did grant a temporary reprieve to one of the five property owners on its list.

Technically, Carl Mayes still holds the title to the house at 1013 W. Wilson Avenue, according to Kozeliski. The trouble is, Mayes died some time ago, and the heirs to his estate all 12 of them, some of whom live out of state are having a hard time deciding exactly what to do next.

Despite the slow going, they've made it clear they want to keep the property and possibly build a new house on the land. But coordination has been a problem. The city has given the family until March 14 to demonstrate significant progress toward a resolution.