APD receives over 200 calls about activities in vacant North Abilene apartment complex, city demands action plan
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The City of Abilene says 263 calls were made to Abilene police last year regarding a North Side apartment complex, and the city is now ordering the landlord to come up with a plan to fix it or else he could be demolished.
The Claystone Apartments are vacant on the corner of North 3rd Street and Mockingbird Lane, and some neighbors told KTAB/KRBC they didn’t feel safe because of the building’s history.
“I had taught my two children to fall at the sound of a gunshot, and I hadn’t realized how well it worked until we heard it one night,” said Ruth Foster, a neighbor of Claystone.
Foster said the Abilene Police Department (APD) was in the top five on her phone’s call list for a while because she heard screaming all hours of the night.
This complex has been brought before the Abilene Building Standards Board, which decides whether a building should be condemned.
“This resort has definitely been a problem for us,” said Ricky Wright, Property Maintenance Inspector for the City of Abilene.
The council recently decided to give the owner of Claystone 30 days to draw up an action plan for the building, due to the nuisance it has become to the public.
“Citizens have reported that vagrants squatting the property are in close proximity to children who are nearby,” Wright added.
Another concern that has been raised about this complex is its proximity to Abilene High School, where students often walk to and from.
“Children are cycling in the street, and some of them go through the allied path,” added another neighbor, Mariea Bellinger.
Bellinger told KTAB/KRBC that her son has four children who live in this area and she is also worried about their safety.
“It makes us all look bad. It looks run down,” added a third neighbor, Sandra Wosika.
Wosika said she wanted the building just torn down, “It’s not fair to us who pay taxes on these buildings and houses, and keep them as clean as they are, to have something like that.”
If the owner of Claystone Apartments can come up with a plan of action within 30 days, they will have 60 days to obtain all permits to make changes, and everything must be completed before those permits expire.
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