Bellevue reaches agreement with homeowners to demolish damaged home

Bellevue house that slid off its foundation to be demolished

The Bellevue house that slid off its foundation is set to be demolished.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - The city of Bellevue has reached an agreement with the owners of a home damaged in a January landslide to demolish the property.

On Jan. 31, the city of Bellevue said it was suing the Surdi family for permission to access the structure in order to demolish the collapsed home.

The city says the reason is the house that was pushed from a hillside and caused the neighborhood to be evacuated in the first place. The city's building official concludes the home is structurally unstable and poses dangers to the neighborhood.

In an interview with FOX 13 last week, the Surdis' attorney said the city has not been willing to let the family back into their house and grab belongings before it is demolished. Instead, he said, the city's proposal was to knock the house down, load everything into a dump truck and haul it to a landfill.

The family said last week that they were fine allowing the house to be demolished—they just wanted to grab personal belongings and other items before it is taken down.

The agreement between the city and the Surdis allows a contractor to safely remove the home and recover any of the Surdis’ property that can be safely salvaged. The family can also remove any items outside of the demolition site, if the contractor deems it safe.

The suit, which gave the courts permission to enter the home, is no longer necessary due to the agreement.

"Five other homes in the area remained "red-tagged," with surrounding neighbors unable to return to their residences due to the unsafe structure in the immediate area. Thanks to the breakthrough agreement, work can begin to safely clear the site, with a start date as early as next week," the city said.

The landslide occurred in the early morning hours on Jan. 17 near 139th Place Southeast and Southeast 51st Place. When first responders arrived on scene, one of the homes had been hit by a landslide and partially collapsed with a homeowner and pet inside.

Emergency responders helped residents from that home and 15 other homes nearby to leave the area safely. An investigation of the cause is ongoing and will likely take months.

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