Man says city of Fort Myers demolished house he was turning into affordable housing

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WINK News

Debris and rubble are all that’s left of Evan Graves’ plans.

“I’m upset with the city because I feel like the city is actually targeting me,” Graves said.

He planned to restore a home for affordable housing, but the city of Fort Myers unexpectedly tore it down.

“All torn down and the city’s going to charge me $15,000 to tear down this house,” he said.

The city says it demolished the Central Avenue home because of code compliance issues, but Graves says he was working with the city manager to stop it from happening.

“I just couldn’t believe that Saaed’s word means nothing. All he does is sell a whole bunch of dreams,” Graves said.

A city council member Graves works with says she was also kept in the dark about the demolition.

“Nobody tried and contacted me. Maybe the city could’ve came and worked with Evan and myself and it just didn’t happen,” said council member Terolyn Watson.

They later found out the city is planning on knocking down several more homes in disrepair.

“I simply had a dream, went after it and accomplished what I have today and I’m not gonna let the city or anybody take that away from me,” Graves said.

Graves adds that he’s working on reinstating permits for his properties. And next time, he hopes the city won’t do something similar without telling him.

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