Duranguito property owners threaten $5M lawsuit

The property owners who instructed the contractor to demolish eight structures in the Duranguito neighborhood last week are threatening to sue the City of El Paso for stopping the demolition.

According to court documents filed by the City of El Paso, the owners say the City illegally revoked the demotion permits it had already granted them and claim they have suffered $5 million in damages.

“There is no provision in the City of El Paso’s Municipal Code that permits the interference of the demolition process by the El Paso Police Department or the suspension of the permits,” the attorney representing the property owners, Michael Shane, wrote to City Attorney Sylvia Firth two days after the demolition was halted.

The Court’s order came after historian Max Grossman argued irreversible damage would be suffered if demolition were allowed to continue while the case played in the courts. The Court granted his request and ordered the City to “cease and desist all efforts to demolish” the properties. The City said it doesn’t own or control the properties. The owners, who were not included on the Court order, moved forward with the demolition in the early morning hours of Sept. 12 before shocked neighborhood supporters. After a dramatic showdown between demonstrators, contractors and police, the Court amended its order and directed the City to revoke the demolition permits, but the buildings had already been damaged.

On Sept.14, the City received the demand letter saying the suspension of the permits equates to the “taking” of private property by the City and violates the Texas and U.S. Constitutions.

“Complying with (the order) has now subjected the City to a multimillion dollar claim for the taking of private property,” states the document filed by the City in court.

The City is asking the 8th Court of Appeals to modify or eliminate the injunction, arguing it is exposing the City to the lawsuit and creating “serious unintended consequences.” Furthermore, the City argues Max Grossman, the historian who has twice taken on the City to stop the construction of an arena in the Duranguito neighborhood where the properties are, has no legal ground to ask for demolitions to stop.

If he alleges the City failed to notify the Texas Historical Commission of its plans to build on public land as it’s required, the City argues, then the only relief is for the court to order the City to notify the commission of its plan. The City argues Grossman is a private citizen who doesn’t own property in the neighborhood and therefore has no standing to stop private owners from demolishing their own properties.

The City has contracts to buy the eight properties once the structures are demolished.

In its injunction, the Court also told the City it could not remove persons from the eight properties, and that is having “serious unintended consequences,” according to the City. As it stands now, the City — not even police — could remove protestors or contractors from the properties “either for their own safety, to protect others, or to prevent or halt criminal activity,” the City argues.

The 8th Court of Appeals will hear both sides at a later date. In the meantime, supporters are camping out in the neighborhood and El Paso Police have a patrol car a block away to ensure public safety.