Judge rules Junction Inn fees due

The fate of the property that once hosted the sole motel in the city of Cave Junction will be decided in the coming weeks as a judge is set to hand down a judgment ordering the property’s owner to pay a fine or surrender the property to the city.
The Junction Inn, located at 406 S Redwood Hwy, was declared a nuisance by the city Feb. 25, 2020. Given 10 days to resolve the nuisance, the property owners began to be fined $500 per day starting March 6 of that year because Junction Inn was not returned to compliance.
The motel’s owner, Lojerky Inc., a California corporation, was informed in a letter the property had been declared a nuisance for a multitude of reasons, including: stress in portions of the structure due to high loads; weakened or unstable structural members or appendages; buckled or leaning walls; chronic dereliction.
The city of Cave Junction defines derelict buildings as the following: “For purposes of this code, a derelict building shall be defined as any building or structure which is unoccupied and boarded, and/or which is unoccupied and unsecured, and/or which is occupied unlawfully without a valid lease and/or the express consent of the owner. If the person responsible for a derelict building fails to correct the conditions which cause a building to be a derelict building within the frames set forth herein, the derelict building shall be declared a nuisance.”
According to an order for summary judgment submitted by attorney Patrick Kelly, who is representing the city, which is the plaintiff in this case, “The court, having reviewed the respective filings of the parties, and being fully advised, it is ordered and adjourned, that Plaintiff’s request via its motion for summary judgment, in its suit for civil enforcement of city nuisance, is hereby granted.”
Circuit Court Judge Pat Wolke’s signature was included in the document.
In addition to the request that Lojerky be held in violation of Cave Junction municipal code by the circuit court, be required to correct said violation and pay $500 per day from March 6, 2020, Kelly also requested on behalf of the city that the Junction Inn owner be liable for “all reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and disbursements incurred by the city for the enforcement of this ordinance.”