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Eastland Mall owner faces $1,000 daily fines for lack of progress at shopping center

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6 months ago

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Eastland Mall owner faces ,000 daily fines for lack of progress at shopping center

Eastland Mall owners in contempt of court again

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The owner of the shuttered and vacant former Eastland Mall has again been found in contempt of court for failing to secure and make improvements to the deteriorating property and bring it up to code, court records show.

Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Stephanie Mingo on Thursday reopened the case and issued more fines against the owner, and also authorized city inspectors to enter the property and conduct “random inspections” for code violations. The new penalties against Eastland Mall Holdings LLC add $750 in daily fines to the $250 daily fines Mingo imposed last fall, until all violations are addressed. This is in addition to a one-time $10,000 fine.

The owner is required to submit plans for how they will fix up the property.

Related | Timeline of Eastland Mall: 1966-2022

The owners, who closed the mall in December of 2022 after 54 years of operation, “have shown no regard for their obligations to the city, to the court and to our friends and neighbors on the East Side, and now they find themselves yet again in contempt of court and racking up fines,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a written statement released by his office. 

“Holding owners accountable is critical to ensuring this site can once again be a catalyst for jobs and economic growth as we look to the future of the east side of Columbus.”

Mingo scheduled a follow-up status conference for July 24, court records show.

Local lawyer Adam Beane, who represents the New Orleans-based mall owner, couldn’t be reached Thursday afternoon. Beane told The Dispatch in 2022 that his clients planned to demolish the mall and were in talks with city officials about how the site could be redeveloped.

Mike Stevens, Columbus’ development director, said at the time that the city had asked the firm keep the mall temporarily open while the city’s small-business team reached out to business owners to help them relocate.

A similar contempt order issued against the firm by Mingo in 2022 allowed the city to enter the property and make repairs at Eastland Mall Holdings’ expense. Outstanding code violations at that time included potholes; litter and waste; high weeds and grass; graffiti; and broken lighting and concrete.

In the latest filing, Klein’s office found that the city had uncovered numerous health and safety violations, including broken glass, inoperable fire safety systems, failure to properly board up the site, parking areas in disrepair, and high grass, weeds and debris littering the site.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

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