The City of Davenport earlier declared property at The Davenport – the apartment building that partially collapsed Sunday – a nuisance, according to Scott County Court documents.
Andrew Wold, listed in court documents as the owner of The Davenport, 324 Main St., was cited for multiple solid-waste violations of the municipal code. According to court documents, the citations involve:
Lots 6, 7, and 8 and the east half of Lot 9, and the south 63 1/3 feet of Lot 10, and the south 63 1/3 feet of the west half of Lot 9, all in block 44, LeClaire’s Addition to the City of Davenport.
According to the Davenport Municipal Code, three or more health code environment or solid waste violations within 12 months constitute a problem area nuisance.
On May 24, 2022, the City of Davenport declared the above property a nuisance because of numerous solid waste violations, court documents show. Violations occurred on Jan. 31, 2022; Feb. 10, 2022; and May 12, 2022, court records say.
The property was ordered to be kept free of debris, including but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, tires, furniture, appliances, automobile parts, and yard waste from commercial and residential activities. ”All refuse was to be placed and kept in approved refuse containers, and emptied so as to not be a continuous source of litter and debris for the surrounding area,” documents say.
Court records show that Wold did not contest the nuisance declaration, nor did he submit an alternative plan to abate the nuisance.
Court records list 19 violations from June 20, 2022, to March 3, 2023, all with this description: “solid waste, garbage, rubbish, debris, etc., was overflowing from the defendant’s Dumpster.”
The City of Davenport sought this relief: A conviction for a first violation of the code, which calls for the imposition of a fine of $250 plus $95 court costs. The city also requested the court “enjoin” – that means instruct, or urge, someone to do something – Wold from any further violations of the code at the property for a period of one year and upon any failure by the defendant to abide by the code that he be ordered to appear in court and answer as to why he should not be held in contempt or to serve jail time for contempt, according to court documents.
Wold was scheduled to appear in Scott County Court on March 24 at 8:30 a.m., but court records say he did not show up for the hearing. The court entered $250 plus court costs against him. “The defendant is enjoined and restrained from future violations of this ordinance,” says a court document dated March 24, 2023.
The court ordered that a civil penalty in the amount of $250 on each violation 2 through 19 for a total of $4,500 plus court costs be assessed against Wold. Wold “is enjoined and restrained from future violations of this ordinance,” court documents say.
Additionally, the court ordered that the violations should be “remedied” on or before March 31, 2023: “The City shall file a status report with the Court if the violation is not remedied by that date.”
Local 4 News has made numerous attempted to contact Wold, who had not responded as of 2 p.m. Monday.
The incident
Shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday, Davenport Firefighters and Police responded to the 300 block of Main Street for a report of a building collapse. Ever since, crews from Davenport Fire, Davenport Police and Davenport Public Works have been on the scene to secure the surrounding area and respond to the active incident, including utility disconnection.
