Tenants at a Plano apartment complex have just days to find new housing after the city obtained a court order citing unsafe and uninhabitable living conditions.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, NBC 5 cameras were at Evana Grove Apartments on Hillridge Drive as residents scrambled to pack and relocate their belongings.<\/p>\n
Blue notices posted on doors explained that a Collin County District Court issued a temporary restraining order requiring the property owner and management to vacate all tenants.<\/p>\n
According to court documents obtained by NBC 5, the restraining order sought by the City of Plano followed repeated reports of city code violations, environmental hazards and a lack of basic utilities at the property.<\/p>\n
Initially, the court gave the property owner just 24 hours to clear the apartments. But Tuesday afternoon, city officials said the owner filed a motion to dissolve the order. The new deadline for tenants to move out is now Nov. 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand how difficult and stressful this situation is for the people living there,\u201d the City of Plano said in a statement. \u201cOur priority is the safety and well-being of everyone in our community. The conditions at Evana Grove are unsafe and unsanitary, leaving residents without gas, water or sewer services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danielle Brehm, a tenant at the complex, said she was at work when her husband called to tell her about the notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really have anywhere to go. Where do they expect us to go? What are they expecting us to do?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Brehm said her apartment has had issues since she moved in with her children over the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur dishwasher has never worked since day one, there\u2019s mold inside,\u201d she said. \u201cThey know there is mold in the apartment; they know there is mold all around everywhere. It\u2019s been problem after problem after problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curtis Howard, director of neighborhood services for the City of Plano, said the city has long dealt with problems at Evana Grove.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the city, this has been a long-term issue,\u201d Howard said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been dealing with this complex for a number of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the goal is to ensure residents, including families and children, are not living in unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want people to live in a safe place,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want kids that are running around a parking lot to be in an area where they\u2019re not going to step into broken glass or run into sewage that\u2019s leaking out of the pavement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Howard estimates as many as 200 people could be displaced.<\/p>\n
Plano officials said their Neighborhood Services team reached out to residents before the termination of water service, offering help with housing and other needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue working closely with residents to connect them with resources and ensure they have access to safe and sanitary conditions,\u201d the city said.<\/p>\n
NBC 5 has reached out to the management at Evana Grove Apartments and to Lurin Real Estate for comment, but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tenants at a Plano apartment complex have just days to find new housing after the city obtained a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-25563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-plano","9":"tag-plano-headlines","10":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}