By: Gena Johnson | West Bloomfield Beacon | Published May 14, 2026
WEST BLOOMFIELD — A special meeting was recently held by the West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees to decide whether a condemned house should be spared demolition.
The hearing was April 24 for a house at 7689 Detroit Boulevard. Eric Langenderfer, township building official, determined March 24 the building was uninhabitable, revoked the certificate of occupancy and ordered the structure demolished by June 30, citing public safety and nuisance concerns.
The condition of the house was brought to township official’s attention after a wall blew off the second floor and fell into a neighbor’s yard.
“A wall falling on a neighbor’s yard is not maintaining a property that is safe for anybody,” said Debbie Binder, a board trustee. “I don’t think we’ve encountered that ever.”
Exposure to the elements has further weakened the structure, Langenderfer said.
According to Alana Knox, the township attorney, the house was previously classified as a “non-conforming existing structure,” which is a designation for older buildings that exempts them from ordinance changes that have occurred since they were built.
Jason Florea, the owner of the property and a licensed contractor, purchased the parcel in July 2024, according to Zillow. He was granted a permit to do construction at the home.
Once work began, contractors saw structural issues in the roof, which required them to stop and obtain a variance, revise the plans, wait for township approval and then wait for materials, according to Florea. The house then endured more damage from the weather, including the walls, and Florea’s permit expired, he told the board.
The owner said he was not aware his permit expired, apologized to the board, and said that “it could have been better addressed.”
The walls of the property were severely damaged, according to the building official.
“Weathering and time have taken its toll on this structure (with) racking, twisting, bowing, and unsupported walls. It would need severe remediation on the remaining structure. The structure was taken down far beyond original (Zoning Board of Appeals) approvals and beyond the approved drawings,” Langenderfer said.
Florea said he demoed within the guidelines of the plans.
“The new plans got approved first before we continued to demo,” he said. “If you want me to demo the four walls, I can easily do that.”
Reconstruction of all four walls exceeds what is allowed in such a house, said Amy Neary, director of planning and development services for the township.
The neighbors submitted photos that showed the house is open and roofless, with a heavy tarp collecting water. This has resulted in black mold on the walls. It has reportedly become a nesting place for rodents.
“I’ve had a front row seat to this home for the last 10 years. … There was a gaping hole in the house,” said John Wisiewski, a neighbor. “That house has gotten weathered and worse by every person who has touched it. … The dumpster company (working on the property) took out our power twice.”
Wisiewski noted there have been three owners of the property in the past 10 years since the original owner. He said he is semi-retired and often home, and the number of times he saw contractors working at the house were “minimal”.
“I don’t have faith that (Florea) would or could follow through with this, because it has been going on for so many years,” Wisiewski said. “There is a bus stop right at that house and kids play there. … We’ve just had enough.”
Gail Laveroni, another neighbor, can see the house from her laundry room window and described the chimney as pulling away from the structure, supported by a broken wooden beam.
“It’s got to go,” she said.
The board asked the building official whether he had heard anything that would change his decision that day, to which he replied, “I made the decision that it is a dangerous building and should come down.”
The four board members present were Jonathan Warshay, Debbie Binder, Michael Patton and Diane Rosefield Swimmer, who voted unanimously to have the property demoed by June 30.
If the owner appeals the case in Circuit Court before then, he is still responsible for keeping the property safe.