COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A court order now marks Eastland Mall as a public nuisance, citing outstanding health and safety code violations, according to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein.
The order comes after the City of Columbus filed a case in Franklin County Municipal Court against Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC in April 2021. The city called the property owners out for violations including inadequate lighting, potholes, a sinkhole developing in the parking lot and structural issues. Klein called the mall “a hazard” to visitors.
“Immediate action must be taken to bring the property into compliance, and that begins with property owners stepping up to make improvements,” Klein said.
The court order gives Eastland Mall’s owners a deadline of July 13 to fix all the following code violations:
- Litter
- Solid waste
- High grass
- “Noncompliant graphics”
- Graffiti
- Broken concrete
- Wall overhand and mortar voids
It also requires the owners to fix the mall’s parking lot violations by Aug. 13 and required them to start “daily litter pickup on the entire grounds of the premises” and “biweekly maintenance of the grass and weeds.”
The court will then hold a contempt hearing on Sept. 22 to see if the If Eastland Mall Holdings LLC followed the order. If not, the order indicates the city could take the matter into its own hands.
“This court further authorizes the plaintiff to conduct any necessary environmental testing and to [raze] and demolish all structures on the subject property at defendant’s expense if the property is not brought into compliance as ordered by the court,” the order read.
The City of Columbus announced in November that it planned to turn 78 acres of land near Eastland Mall into a new park, and had acquired the acreage for about $1.5 million. Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC bought the mall property in 2015 for $9.7 million.
Take a virtual tour from 2017 of the Eastland Mall through Google Maps below:
