Struggles with forcing 2nd Richland ‘junkyard’ house to clean up
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Richland pauses court action at 1312 Hains Ave. amid cleanup and foreclosure.
- Owner Lee Green faces foreclosure, criminal charges and neighbor lawsuits.
- City pursues abatement for extreme nuisance cases and seeks funding for cleanup.
Richland is pausing plans to seek a court order to clean up a debris-heaped yard near the waterfront, saying efforts are underway that could clear it faster than anything the city could accomplish in court.
The modest house at 1312 Hains Ave. has drawn complaints from neighbors and attention from the city’s code enforcement officers, all concerned about the unsightly and unsanitary accumulation of junk on a residential property.
Heather Kintzley, Richland city attorney, said city officials now hope a pending foreclosure auction in March and some initial signs that the property is being cleaned up by the current occupant could solve the problem.
The house, which is near the popular Hains Levee Trail along the Columbia River, is engulfed in debris including old vehicles, boats and building materials.
Lee Allen Green III, inherited it from his father, Lee A. Green Jr. The elder Green died in 2014 but is still listed in county property records as the owner.
The Hains property is a standout among the hundreds of nuisance cases Richland handles through its code enforcement department each year. Most of the time, property owners voluntarily comply with orders to cut overgrown weeds, trim branches, remove garbage or haul off inoperable vehicles.
When that fails, it sues in Benton County Superior Court, asking a judge to declare a nuisance and issue an order of abatement.
Public agencies who remove private property without court orders violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Richland reserves that step for extreme cases where fines and clean up requests fail.
Current examples include a duplex swimming in debris at 2100 Pullen St. and the former Northwest Tire Recycling on Twin Bridges, that’s now being described as Washington’s largest pile of discarded tires.
The case against the owner of 2100 Pullen St. is pending. And the city successfully secured its order of abatement for the pile of 7,100 tons of tires. The 2026 Legislature is weighing how to help cover the cost to clear the site, now estimated at over $1 million.
Green, the owner of the Hains house property, faces a series of legal challenge, including foreclosure for defaulting on his mortgage, criminal charges and continuing pressure to clean up his yard.
Green is being held in the Benton County jail on charges of second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment, harassment, commercial sex abuse of a minor, distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
He defaulted on the mortgage, leading to a foreclosure. Clear Recon Corp. is scheduled to conduct an auction at 10 a.m., March 27, at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick unless the outstanding balance of more than $62,000 is paid.
Green also was successfully sued by his immediate neighbor for wrecking the picket fence between their properties.
$76,000 court judgment
In February, Evan Dickinson, aka Autumn Dickinson, won a judgment against Green totaling nearly $76,000 after suing for damages to the fence separating Dickinson’s property from Green’s.
In the suit, Dickinson said the white picket fence was installed and maintained by the Dickinson family. Without permission, Green attached sheets of plywood to the picket fence to create a solid wall.
The plywood blocked street views, creating a hazard for vehicles entering and existing the Dickinson driveway. The added weight of the plywood, coupled with pressure washing, damaged the fence beyond repair. A contractor bid $26,000 to remove the old fence and replace it with a new one.
Dickinson didn’t want to comment to the Herald about the decision beyond sending messages of support to the alleged victims of Green’s crimes, and expressing a wish that his neighbor receives mental health services.
