Brady Louwein is a tall 60-year-old strapping home renovator. He is soft-spoken and you will never hear him curse, a smile comes to him easily. He attends church every week and even took in a fellow churchgoer, well past 80, when they had nowhere else to turn. Brady has a social disability, so he has difficulty reading and has no computer. His flip phone doesn’t even take texts. He bought a piece of land in the Springbrook neighborhood three years ago and has continually made improvements on it.
The City of Lakewood is planning to take his home away.
The City has acquired properties on either side of him and wants to bulldoze through his house just to make the park a complete city block. They have given him numerous excuses why they wanted to condemn his property. He has, in turn, made the improvements the city demanded. Even the program manager for the City condemnations stated that Brady had achieved every requirement the city demanded. Then the city also applied hefty fines to harass him. In almost every case he prevailed, but time for court is work income lost and a burden of legal fees.
Brady says that if the City will allow him to live out his last years in Springbrook, he will deed the property to the City with no hesitation. Free.
But on June 15th the Council will probably meet and declare his property condemned regardless. Some councilmembers who may have never come near his property. They will benefit from social distancing by not taking real-time testimony from Brady or concerned citizens and seize his property sight unseen.
But if you want a thriller to read tonight, crack open RCW 8.12.030 Among the verbiage, they can take your property for “…deposit or burial of dead animals, manure, dung, rubbish, and other offal…”
The News Tribune has said they won’t cover the story until his home has already been taken away.
If you wish to speak on behalf of a hard-working fellow Lakewood resident, please address comments to the City Council before June 13th to the City Clerk “bschumacher@cityoflakewood.us”, recommended subject ‘Brady seizure’.
Don’t let them get their foot in the door of taking away our property. Let’s see which councilmembers will vote to take away the property of a man with a disability.
This is horrendous! I wish this had been publicized earlier.
I’m not a Lakewood resident so I’m certain the City Council would dismiss my opinion. If this shameful thing happens, the park should be named BRADY PARK!!
“Fair compensation” is required by law that is in the interest of the owner. I’d like the local government to excercise “eminent domain” of my properties and pay me ‘just compensation’. I’d profit handsomely. C’mon gov’t, find a reason to take my land…please!
This is totally uncalled for by the City of Lakewood- Would strongly suggest they trade places with Mr. Brady and receive the same treatment that he is receiving and how would they like it? I bet not. You just don’t go in there and take someones property when they worked hard on it and paid for everything. That property is his and it is on record it his. There will be a letter to the City of Lakewood and I would strongly suggest that the city sit down and talk to him and hear him out. Make some kind of arrangement. We already have a park here in Springbrook which is Springbrook park. I live in the Springbrook area. I am not happy with the city at all for its blind greed and ignorance of it citizens. Where is the City Council person on this that represents this area um?
No councilmember has ever represented Springbrook.
Has anyone thought to look at Google Earth Pro to see what is around that Springbrook park? From what I can see most of the so call homes, aka dwellings look like a wrecking yard of piled up garbage not collected and ditto of spent used cars. I am not going to say anything about the gentleman and his case, but just looking at the map says a lot.
In any case I wish Brady Louwein the best of luck and good wishes for his future.
Post-council;
not once was Brady’s disability mentioned nor the caregiver situation.
And I join a staggering number that has lost faith in their local governance.
Your home is not yours.