'Public nuisance' Eastland Mall slapped with thousands in fines by Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A case filed by Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein has handed down thousands of dollars in fines to an area mall after the owners failed to meet a deadline.

Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC, which bought Eastland Mall in 2015 for $9.7 million, now faces a $3,500 fine, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records. The court held a contempt hearing Thursday to see if the owners had followed orders to clean up the property, and found they did not.

If Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC, does not address the health and safety violations Klein flagged, the court will tack on an additional $250 fine daily. Items on the to-do list to clean up the mall include litter, solid waste, graffiti and broken concrete.

The owners were also given one month to begin daily trash pickup, and address parking lot issues like inadequate lighting, a developing sinkhole and other structural issues. Leading up to the contempt hearing in June, Klein secured a court order that marked Eastland Mall as a "public nuisance."

"This court further authorizes the plaintiff to conduct any necessary environmental testing and to [raze] and demolish all structures on the subject property at defendant's expense if the property is not brought into compliance as ordered by the court," the order read further.

As the city's attorney has fought with the owners, the City of Columbus announced in November that it planned to turn 78 acres of land near Eastland Mall into a new park, and had acquired the acreage for about $1.5 million.

Take a virtual tour from 2017 of the Eastland Mall through Google Maps below: