McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.

McPhillips, Shinbaum, Luck, Bodin & Guillot

ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.* *Also Admitted in NY
Kenneth Shinbaum 516 SOUTH PERRY STREET **Also Admitted in DC
Aaron J. Luck MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
James G. Bodin** Post Office Box 64
(334) 262-1911 • (866) 224-8664
Joseph C. Guillot Montgomery, Alabama 36101
FAX (334) 263-2321
Chase Estes Office Admin. Amelia Strickland

Of Counsel Attorneys
David Sawyer
Tanika Finney

November 18, 2019

Mayor Steven Reed

City of Montgomery
103 N. Perry Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36130

Dear Steven:

How soon can I set up a meeting with you about this? This week I hope. I sent you the
enclosed in a October 21, 2019 letter about the Grove Court Apartments and a proposed suit 4
weeks ago.

JLMcP/aas

Enclosures
 h Wt1tl Gtelfveveul I o/itJ,W
McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.
McPhillips, Shinbaum, Luck, Bodin & Guillot
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.* *Also Admitted in NY
Kenneth Shinbaum 516 SOUTH PERRY STREET **Also Admitted-in DC
Aaron J. Luck
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
James G. Bodin** Post Office Box 64
(334) 262-1911 • (866) 224-8664
Joseph C. Guillot Montgomery, Alabama 36101
Chase Estes FAX (334) 263-2321
Office Admin .. Amelia Strickland

Of Counsel Attorneys
David Sawyer
Tanika Finney

October 21, 2019

Mr. Steven Reed

Mayor Elect
City of Montgomery
John Brown Avenue
Montgomery, Alabama VIA HAND-DELIVERY

Dear Steve:

Congratulations again on your election as the next Mayor of Montgomery. Leslie and I
are greatly excited. It's great to see that our young neighbor whose family property has touched
-up against ours for almost 40 y:ears and who once entertained us with firecrackers on New Year's
Eve, do so well.

We know you are probably inundated with contacts from people about this and that.
Nonetheless, I wanted to give you a courtesy "head's up" about a legal matter affecting the City
of Montgomery described in the enclosed.

If you feel any desire to talk with me about the enclosed, please contact me. Our plan is
to file the same soon, possibly even before the month of October is up.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

JLMcP
Enclosure
 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA

JULIAN MCPHILLIPS, RICHARD )

SHINBAUM, CC3 PROPERTIES, LLC, )
ALABAMA ASSOCIATION OF JUSTICE, ) CASE NO. _ _ _ _ _ _
556 PROPERTIES, INC., AND )
MOXLEY & ASSOCIATES, )
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
v. )
)
THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY, a )
municipal corporation, and GROVE )
COURT APARTMENTS, INC., )
)
Defendants. )
COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST THE CITY
OF MONTGOMERY AND GROVE COURT APARTMENTS, INC.

COMES NOW the above-named Plaintiffs Julian McPhillips, et al and doth complain

against the city of Montgomery and Grove Court Apartments Inc. and seek the following

injunctive and equitable relief to abate and remove what has become both a public nuisance and

private nuisance for the following reasons, set forth herein.

I. PARTIES

1. The Plaintiffs Julian McPhillips, Richard Shinbaum, CC3 Properties, LLC, The

Alabama Association of Justice, 556 Properties, Inc., and Moxley & Associates all own real

properties located on South Perry Street in Montgomery between the avenues of High Street and

Grove Street. All of these property owners have buildings and land on Perry Street, and the back

sides of most of them touch upon the Grove Court Apartments, the southwest comer of which is

at the intersection of Grove and Court Streets in the City of Montgomery in the 36104 zip code

area.
 2. The Defendant City of Montgomery is a municipal corporation, which has long

known about the tremendously dilapidated and dangerous conditions of the Grove Court

Apartments, but has failed to do anything meaningful to correct the condition of, or remove, said

apartments, which now constitute a public health danger and private nuisance.

3. The Defendants Grove Court Apartments Inc have failed to take any meaningful

action to correct the condition of, or remove, said dilapidated and dangerous apartments

referenced above that now, as set forth below, constitute a public and private nuisance.

II. VENUE

4. Venue is proper in the County of Montgomery, Alabama because the Grove Court

Apartments are located in the County of Montgomery, and all the parties reside in, or do business

in, the County of Montgomery.

III. FACTS GIVING RISE TO THIS COMPLAINT

5. On information and belief, the Plaintiffs aver that the apartments described above,

known as the Grove Court Apartments, have been abandoned for more than 30 years, and have

long constituted a blight, eye-sore, and public nuisance, as well as a threat to the public health

and safety of the citizens of Montgomery.

6. The danger includes that the Grove Court Apartments are an attractive hiding

place for a criminal element to hang out in, and prey upon adjacent or neighboring citizens. Said

apartments further constitute a grave danger and public nuisance, because, if said apartments

were to catch on fire, the fumes and smoke would give rise to other noxious and/or poisonous

substances being breathed, or breathed into, by inhabitants, employees and/or customers or

clients of Plaintiffs' buildings.

2
 7. The City of Montgomery has in recent years passed municipal ordinances giving

the City of Montgomery power to punish ineffective landlords such as Ordinance Sections 12-

31 thru 12-111 and Ordinance 22-2017, section VII, subsection 108.2. Said ordinance has

also sharpened the City's teeth to force landlords into compliance with City codes.

8. The City of Montgomery enforces Code of Ordinance Sections 12-31 thru 12-

111 which establishes the removal of overgrown weeds and litter, junk, trash, stagnant water,

abandoned and junk vehicles, auto parts, appliances, building materials and furniture on private

property within the city limits of Montgomery.

9. Ordinance 22-2017, section VII, subsection 108.2 allows the City of

Montgomery to close and condemn vacant structures that are vacant and unfit for human

habitation and occupancy.

10. Ala Code § 11-53b-l through 16 allows the City of Montgomery to demolish

unsafe building structures, and Ordinance 22-2017, section VII subsection 109.1.1 allows for

the immediate demolition of a building structure when such action is required due to the

imminent danger of structural collapse endangering adjoining property, the public right of way or

human life or health.

11. Notwithstanding multiple demands upon the City of Montgomery in the past 12

years by one or more of the Plaintiffs to take action against said apartments and have them either

removed or returned to a habitable condition, and despite having the legal authority to do so, the

City of Montgomery has negligently, recklessly, or wantonly continued to do nothing, and has

for many years allowed the deplorable. and dangerous condition of the Grove Court Apartments

to drag on, without any improvement or removal.

3
 12. The City Council of the City of Montgomery has even designated a substantial

sum of money for use to help remove, demolish, or otherwise dispose of such abandoned or

deplorable properties, yet the City has still done nothing to remove said danger, eyesore, and

blight, despite multiple requests from citizens of Montgomery over the years.

13. Likewise, Grove Court Apartments Inc., and the predecessor owners, have done

nothing over the past 30 years to remove, demolish, or otherwise improve said apartments.

14. Despite encouragement from certain City Council members, including especially

Tracy Larkin, to the City of Montgomery to do something to clean up the terrible blight and

danger to members of the public, and the City of Montgomery continues to languish at doing

nothing.

15. The Grove Court Apartments were not listed on the National Register until

December 11, 2013. At the time the apartments were added to the register, they were vacant and

a nuisance, and it appears the effort to list them was a last minute move to prevent demolition or

to obtain federal funds and fix advantages for a potential purchase.

16. The procedure to place the Apartments on the historic register was badly flawed,

without notice to neighboring landowners.

17. The prior owners in the Abraham Estate were called upon by the City of

Montgomery to either repair the property and/or remove the property, but said ownership did

neither.

18. In light of the above-stated and the continuing demands from neighbors, the time

has come for the City to re-evaluated the nuisance known as the Grove Court Apartments.

4
 19. In an attempt to amicably resolve this claim, on October 17, 2019, and again on

November 19, 2019, letters were sent to the Montgomery City Council with a draft of a lawsuit

attached, except for this paragraph and the immediately succeeding paragraph 20, yet no

response was ever received from the City Council as a whole, or from any individual City

Council member (see Exhibits A & B).

20. In a further last resort/effort, on October 21, 2019 and November 19, letters were

sent to the newly-elected Mayor Steven Reed but again no response has been received from said

new Mayor.

IV. CAUSES OF ACTION

COUNT ONE: REQUEST FOR INJUNCTIVE&EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST A

PUBLIC NUISANCE

21. Plaintiffs hereby repeat, reallege, and incorporate by reference the preceding

allegations of this complaint and further aver that the Grove Court Apartments constitute a public

nuisance for the City of Montgomery, and that legal action is necessary to compel the City of

Montgomery and ownership of Grove Court Apartments Inc. to remove or demolish said

apartments, before a great tragedy befalls the citizens, such as described in paragraphs 2 and 6

above.

22. The Plaintiffs and other citizens, tenants, clients and/or customers of the City of

Montgomery have been and are continuing to be endangered by the failure of the City of

Montgomery and Grove Court Apartments Inc to abate or remove said public nuisance, and will

continue to do so, unless ordered by this Court.

5
 PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Plaintiffs hereby pray that this

Honorable Court, after a hearing on the merits of this action, will grant the injunctive and

equitable relief of requiring the Defendants City of Montgomery and Grove Court Apartments,

Inc. to remove or demolish the above-described apartments.

COUNT TWO: REQUEST FOR INJUNCTIVE&EQUITABLE RELIEF TO ABATE A

PUBLIC NUISANCE

23. Plaintiffs hereby repeat, reallege, and incorporate by reference the preceding

allegations of this complaint and further aver that the Grove Court Apartments constitute a public

nuisance for the City of Montgomery, and that legal action is necessary to compel the city of

Montgomery and the ownership of Grove Court Apartments Inc. to remove or demolish said

apartments, before a greater tragedy occurs to the citizens such as described in paragraphs 2 and

6 above.

24. The Plaintiffs and other citizens, tenants, clients and/or customers of the City of

Montgomery are being endangered by the failure of the City of Montgomery and Grove Court

Apartments Inc. to abate or remove said public nuisance, and will continue to do so, unless

ordered by this Court.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Plaintiffs hereby pray that this

Honorable Court, after a hearing on the merits of this action, will grant the injunctive and

equitably relief of requiring the Defendants City of Montgomery and Grove Court Apartments

Inc. to remove or demolish the above-described apartments.

6
 Respectfully submitted on t h i s _ day of December, 2019.

Julian McPhillips, Richard Shinbaum,

Chandler Realty, Alabama Association of
Justice, 556 Properties, Inc.,
Moxley & Associates
Plaintiffs

BY:

Julian McPhillips, Esq.

Counsel for the Plaintiffs

OF COUNSEL:
MCPHILLIPS SHINBAUM LLP
516 South Perry Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
(334) 262-1911

Counsel for the Plaintiffs BY:

OF COUNSEL:
SHINBAUM LAW FIRM LLC
566 South Perry Street Richard Shinbaum, Esq.
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
(334) 269-4440

NOTE FOR SERVICE:

Grove Court Apartments Inc.

291 Scenic Gulf Drive, Apt. 1003
Miramar Beach, Florida 32550-4947

7
 - (1/t'{(
McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P. ttni rJ..'R).ivere,d
McPhillips, Shinbaum, Luck, Bodin & Guillot
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
Julian L McPhillips, Jr.* *Also Admitted in NY
Kenneth Shinbaum 516 SOUTH PERRY STREET ** Also Admitted in DC
Aaron J. Luck MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
James G. Bodin"* Post Office Box 64
(334) 262-1911 • -(866) 224-8664
Joseph C. Guillot Montgomery, Alabama 36101
FAX (334) 263-2321
Chase Estes Office Admin. Amelia Strickland

Of Counsel Attorneys
David Sawyer
November 19, 2019 Tanika Finney

Hand-Delivery on 11/19119 to City Council mailbox

Mr. Tracy Larkin, City Councilman

Mr. Arch Lee, City Councilman
Mr. Charles Jinright, City Councilman
Mr. Richard Bollinger, City Councilman
Mr. Brantley Lyons, City Councilman
Ms. Audrey Graham, City Councilwoman
Mr. William Green, City Councilman
Mr. Fred Bell, City Councilman
Mr. Glenn Pnritt, City Cou;ncilman
103 N Perry Street
Montgomery Alabama 36104

t"' ; i-'-· ,,>,.c,· :·:neatTri'icy; Arch; Charles, Richard, Brantley, Audrey, William, Fred, GleJJn: .

,;,; ; r,; :· ,, ie: .:: :,:: C:_· 'iTOn-:October 17;/2019;-Ieaused a draft of a lawsuit copy to be sent to you for your review.
I have heard nothing back from you. I was hoping to hear something positive, but wanted ·to
wait for a new administration to review this suit before filing it. A copy has been sent to the new
mayor.

As one last attempt to resolve this short of filing, I hereby request that I be put on the
City Council's Agenda on this subject for the next available meeting after this Tuesday,
November 19, 2019.

For all the reasons stated in the draft, I submit that the City's interest and the public's
interest would be well-served by the City's agreement to demolish and remove this eyesore that
also constitutes a danger to the public at the earliest date possible. Thank you.

JLMcP/aas
xc: Partners ofMcPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.
Plaintiffs
 McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.
McPhillips, Shinbaum, Luck, Bodin & Guillot
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.* *Also Admitted in NY
Kenneth Shinbaum 516 SOUTH PERRY STREET **Also Admitted in DC
Aaron J. Luck
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
James G. Bodin** Post Office Box 64
(334) 262-1911 • (866) 224-8664
Joseph C. Guillot Montgomery, Alabama 36101
Chase Estes FAX (334) 263-2321
C)ffi e Admin. Amelia Strickland

. Of Counsel Attorneys
David Sawyer
Tanika Finney

October 16, 2019

Ms. Brenda Blalock

Clerk, City of Montgomery
City Hall
N. Perry Street
Montgomery, Al. 36106

Dear Ms. Blalock:

·'. ,· '>· 'L.· .':-;: ·:';' ,;,'i''t_. r: Plirsuail.Hothe·:Code of.Alabama, this is to give notice, both as Plaintiff and as attorney,
:•"=<•.-·· -· -·•-·;Of-the,encloseddaimagainst the.,City of Montgomery to remove the private and public nuisance .
.,,-;. ...., , _,·that are the Grove Court Apartments, located between Grove and Court streets immediately
behind the buildings owned by the Plaintiffs in this case.

Also pursuant to statutory requirements, although no money damages are iIDII1 tiiately
sought but injunctive relief instead, the legal action sought mccy_·cost the City of Mdhtii ,IT,),ery
significant resources. We therefore give notice of a claim fc;i:r: relief up to and ir).cluding the .
$100,000.00 ceiling allowed by the Code of Alabama, 1975, s amended. ,,
 McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.
McPhillips, Shinbaum, Luck, Bodin & Guillot
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.* *Also Admitted in NY
Kenneth Shinbaum 516 SOUTH PERRY STREET **Also Admitted in DC
Aaron J. Luck MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
James G. Bodin** Post Office Box 64
(334) 262-1911 • (866) 224-8664
Joseph C. Guillot Montgomery, Alabama 36101
FAX (334) 263-2321 Office Admin. Amelia Strickland
Chase Estes

Of Counsel Attorneys
David Sawyer
Tanika Finney

October 17, 2019

Hand-Delivery on 10/17119

VM.r. Tracy Larkin, City Councilman

Mr. Arch Lee, City Councilman
Mr. Charles Jinright, City Councilman
Mr. Richard Bollinger, City Councilman
Mr. Brantley Lyons, City Councilman
Ms. Audrey Graham, City Councilwoman
Mr. William Green, City Councilman
Mr. Fred Bell, City Councilman
Mr. Glenn Pruitt, City Councilman
103 N Perry Street
Montgomery Alabama 36104

Dear Tracy, Arch, Charles, Richard, Brantley, Audrey, William, Fred, Glenn:

Enclosed is a filed copy of the Notice of Claim with the City of Montgomery Clerk and
its attachment of a drafted lawsuit which p•operty owners on the west side of South Perry Street
(the 500 block) between High and Grove Streets are prepared to file shortly. We just wanted to
give you a courteous notice of the same. We trust and hope you will support this initiative, and
maybe even consider urging the Mayor to realign the city of Montgomery as a Plaintiff in this
case.

Please understand that this is the last resort after at least 13 years of efforts to persuade
the Mayor's office to do something more meaningful, such as remove the Grove Court
Apartments, or cause the owners to remove them, or restore them fairly quickly. The latter
appears impossible today, after 35 years of vacancy, which have caused a host of problems.

JLMcP/aas

xc: Partners of McPhillips Shinbaum, L.L.P.

Plaintiffs