NORTH BEND — Concerned that enforcing a deadline for dealing a dangerous building could interfere with a potential legal settlement, the North Bend City Council agreed to give the property owner more time.

On Tuesday, the unanimous council gave owner Yesi Guirado an extension to Oct. 14 to make the house at 2505 Sheridan Ave., safe or tear it down. The original deadline closed Sept. 1.

City Attorney Mike Stebbins recommended the extension be granted because enforcing the deadline could interfere with mediation between Guirado and the owner of Sapphires Mongolian Grill, Eugene Hill.

“I think it would seriously jeopardize a resolution ...” Stebbins told the council.

The men are suing each other, and the city has been named as a party. Mediation is scheduled Sept. 4. A trial date is set in April.

Stebbins noted that 50 percent of mediation cases don’t work, but the other half are resolved.

Located above Sapphires, Guirado’s house and property became an ongoing cause of concern in early 2007, when city employees told the council the land under the house was moving, and the building could come down, too.

The hill has slid on and off since 2005. A February slide caused a small avalanche behind a debris dam on the Sapphires’ property. The slide caused the restaurant to close for three days.

On March 11, the City Council ordered Guirado to demolish the house or stabilize the hill by the first day of September, or the city would do it for him. The ultimatum came with a number of additional orders, including gaining a report from a licensed geotechnical engineer. Without one, Guirado is forbidden to work on his property. The council’s order came after many months in which Guirado missed nearly every deadline set by the city.