A Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge Wednesday cleared the way for Anderson Township to tear down part of a home belonging to Steve Dapper, who started an addition in the early 1990s without a building permit.

        Mr. Dapper said he will appeal the order by Judge Melba Marsh that found him in contempt. He has 30 days to appeal. The dispute between Mr. Dapper and the township has gone on for the better part of a decade.

        It was the second time Judge Marsh had ruled the township could proceed with razing the two-story addition on Mr. Dapper's Mount Carmel Road home.

        Mr. Dapper had successfully appealed Judge Marsh's initial finding of contempt in January, arguing he had not been properly notified of the contempt hearing. The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals issued a stay on the demolition, which was scheduled for Feb. 10.

        The Hamilton County prosecutor's office, on behalf of the Hamilton County building department and Anderson Township, refiled the contempt motion, starting the process again.

        At the hearing Wednesday, Mr. Dapper represented himself and argued that the building department has not been fair with him, and that he has tried numerous time to get a building permit for his addition.

        “This is the way they're making me live,” Mr. Dapper told Judge Marsh. “They're denying me my constitutional rights. ... I want to be allowed to finish my house and live in peace.”

        At issue was whether Mr. Dapper had lived up to an agreement that he and his wife, Kathleen, signed in June 2001. It stipulated that he hire an architect and apply for a permit. He contacted an architect but never signed a contract with him. Judge Marsh said the first step was to hire an architect, and asked Mr. Dapper why he had not.

        “Because I didn't think he'd get me a permit,” said Mr. Dapper.

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