Man who bought 'residential' firehouse sued by Seattle — for using as residence | KIRO 7 News

The advertisement that grabbed Thom Kroon's attention marketed a no-longer-used fire station as a "unique residential dwelling.” So Kroon purchased the property from the City of Seattle in a 2012 auction. The Seattle man then spent thousands of dollars on interior remodeling, and for more than three years, his extended family and friends used the firehouse for holidays, celebrations, charity fundraisers, graduation parties and as an office until a Land Use Notice of Violation arrived in July of 2016.

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[zethjugos]

Someone "filed a complaint" simply means somebody who has connections in city hall is interested in the property...glad the owner fought back and won

[arcticafrostbite]

How dare that man use the property that he legally purchased

[harrybellingham]

Government: If we've made a mistake, it's your fault

[monkemode]

It's not the worst mistake, but the fact that the city just immediately went to giant fines and ordered him to leave his residence is suspicious.

[zeph_os]

For anyone checking in now; the city dropped the lawsuit after he countersued since the paperwork that converted the land use from a fire station to a residential zone "got lost" in the bureaucratic process

[no-onesname]

That man deserves his money back. If they wanted the place to be a historical landmark they should have kept it.

[keithbiz]

"Complaint about property" = a neighbor didn't like the dude with the cool fire house having parties

[darkhst]

Bottom line. Someone with money wanted the land and created some BS lawsuit to try and scare the owner off. The fact that our processes even allowed it to happen to begin with is a huge joke.

[ivocanevo]

Pay the man's legal fees, rezone his property, apologize, and stop wasting this man's time and Seattle taxpayers' money. FFS

[MouseCIick]

The city sold him the firehouse and the city proceed to sue him. You can’t make this up.

[lapislazuli]

The fact that they dropped the lawsuit when he decided to counter speaks volumes. They definitely tried to extort him and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle when they saw him fighting back.

[txhookey]

It's amazing that a city would waste time and resources on a nice home instead of addressing homelessness and crime.

[damongreenlee]

The city definitely should be held financially liable for the owners expenses.

[chrishouck]

Someone was just jealous that that guy lives in a freaking firehouse so they wanted to be a little punk and call the city! Shame on them.

[adrees]

The city was wrong, they admitted as much when the dropped their frivolous lawsuit, and now they should pay all legal fees for putting this man through this.

[finally]

I'm glad that the owner was able to retain adequate counsel. People don't realize how necessary it is that you not only have an attorney but one who is well versed in the type of suit. I'd love a follow-up to this story.

[Rick_Foley]

Can City Hall be sued for not being used to run a city?

[AllforKJ]

That’s a noble thought: Hold the city to the same standards they hold their residents to.

[thedeytow]

He’s taking better care of it than the city would.

[autobug]

This station was featured on an HGTV show of some sort a few years ago. He won his lawsuit against the city and kept the place!