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Frustration Comes Tumbling Down

Tribune file photo by JULIE BUSCH

The demolition of a condemned home in Tampa Palms' Canterbury subdivision happened after years of issues.

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By LAURA KINSLER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2008

TAMPA PALMS - When New Tampa's only condemned house was finally demolished in April, the neighbors didn't cheer or toast with champagne.

They gathered in a light rain and watched quietly as an excavator tore through eight years of frustration and headaches.

Gary Glassman

Gary Glassman, a member of the city's legal staff, stood under the shelter of a giant oak and watched, too. The case landed on his desk in late 2006, more than two years after Tampa Code Enforcement Director Curtis Lane signed a demolition order.

The owner, Scott Burdge, started building the 7,500-square-foot mansion in Tampa Palms' Canterbury subdivision in 1998. After five years, it wasn't halfway done. City inspectors pulled his permits, and Lane condemned it.

Burdge used every legal means at his disposal in an effort to stop the demolition. His case is scheduled to go to trial in May — postponed for the fourth time.

Glassman, the third city attorney assigned to the case, said he tried to take a different approach. "I tried to force the issue," he said. "What I tried to do was to convince the city that it had to come down, and if we were wrong, we could deal with the consequences when the case got to trial. It was a more aggressive approach."

When Burdge learned the city had scheduled the demolition, his lawyer filed a motion for an emergency injunction to stop it.

"I didn't mind," Glassman said. "I wanted to get this issue before the court. There was an opportunity there for Burdge to stop us, but the judge didn't grant the injunction."

As he stood under that oak tree in the rain, Glassman felt the wave of relief pass over the neighbors. "I had not lived with this for six to eight years like they did," he said. "I felt relief for them that this was finally over. I said to myself, 'Something good came out of the justice system today.'"

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