Bethel problem property cases stall over owners it can't reach

Bethel's Planning Commission checks in Thursday on the city's effort to clean up problem properties, and the city's own tracking sheet shows why several cases are stuck: owners who have died, owners who can't be found and, at one shop, squatters.

The sheet, in the commission's meeting packet, lists seven properties city staff sent to the commission in September as candidates for abatement, the process in which the City Council can order an owner to fix or tear down a problem property.

Both owners of 1019 Ridgecrest Drive have died. The city can't find contact information for the owner of 1041 Second Avenue, and it's still working out who owns 106 South Harbor Road. The owner of a shop on BIA Road told the city there are squatters on the property. At 1111 Naun Raq, where the city first sent letters in May 2024, the sheet says no progress was made this summer.

The commission recommended three of the seven for council hearings: 1019 Ridgecrest Drive and 1111 and 1119 Naun Raq. Commissioners talked again in October about which properties should move ahead, according to the minutes. Thursday's item is an update, not a vote.

The seven are a small slice of a much longer list. The tracking sheet runs to dozens of Bethel addresses, and similar notes turn up on other entries, from more deceased and unknown owners to one property where occupants won't leave and a court order is pending.

The council has already approved abatement for three properties. In August, it declared 251 Akiak Drive, where untreated sewage was running onto the ground, a public nuisance and health hazard. It also approved abatement for 410 Owl Street and 17 Kwethluk Lane.

If an owner ignores a council order, the city can do the work itself and put the cost on the property as a lien, according to a city manager's report.