Six months have passed since members of county staff descended on a residence at 791 Galax Trail in Mount Airy to conduct a series of environmental samples. They were on site after repeated complaints had been made regarding a large number of animals being kept at the residence and the prevalence of vermin on the lot, resulting in the lot being declared a nuisance by county officials.
The results of the investigation were returned last month, and Surry County served notice to Crystal and Jenna Ritter, of the same address, on May 29 with the findings of the investigation. The deputy who served the order on the home wrote that it was served, “By laying it at (Ritter’s) feet because she refused to take in hand.”
County Attorney Ed Woltz said the nuisance property process the board of commissioners developed was moving forward as it was designed to do. Included in that process are two paths to appeal for the Ritters, the first of which will be an appeal hearing at the next meeting of the board of county commissioners on June 17 at 6 p.m. If the appeal is denied by the board, an appeal can then be filed with Superior Court he said.
Alternately, if the Ritter appeal is sustained he said the issues on Galax Trail would not simply go away. He added that there may be other grounds by which to declare the property a nuisance or health risk and continue to pursue abatement.
Woltz was “cautiously optimistic” that the issue was moving toward some form of resolution that would reduce the health risks caused by having a large number of varied types of animals on a three-quarter acre lot.
The county’s findings said the nuisance arises from conditions reported by other residents and those observed on the property by members of county staff.
It read it part, “There is a chronic and documented serious infestation of both house and yard or large rodents, namely rats. There are dozens of animals (hogs, cats, dogs, geese, ducks, turkeys, chickens) on a small acreage living in unsanitary conditions with food mixed with feces and urine throughout the property.”
Furthermore, the report found, “There is a comingling of species where food and water are left at ground level and shared while mixed with feces and urine.”
On the property the report said there is insufficient containment measures to prevent the free travel of rodents to and from the premises. This concerns county officialswho said rodents carry diseases and parasites therefore creating a further danger to neighbors and their own pets.
“The rodent infestation poses an immediate and direct hazard to… the citizens of Surry County due to the threat of zoonotic transmission of diseases and parasites,” the report said. Zoonotic transmission is the transmission of disease from an animal to human.
The abatement order says the residents have 30 days to remove all animals from the property and stipulates no animals may return until they have been assessed for parasites and the unsanitary conditions remedied. This is to include all manure, feces, and trash from the property.
“A professional rodent removal firm will need to be utilized to remove rodents from the house and lot. Rat holes in the interior walls of the house will need to be closed,” the order states.
Development Services and Animal Control will be permitted to make regular inspections of the home and lot to ensure that conditions are maintained and “the rodent population does not return.”
“It is her responsibility and if she does not rise to the issues the county can abate the situations,” Woltz said which could include using county staff comply with the abatement order.
He said inspectors “heard sounds in the walls” back in January and one county employee who was on site recounted he saw “more rats than I ever wanted to see, and they are healthy rats.”
Woltz said the issue has been going on at least two years and the county needed to develop the nuisance property ordinance in order to establish a process by which to identify and notify of violations and allow for appeal of such findings.
“We had decent statutes on the books that gave us authority, but not mechanisms to ensure equity,” Woltz explained. “That’s part of why this took so long.”
He also said executing the nuisance property ordinance contained a learning curve as it had not been employed previously. “We’re still learning,” he said and added that the experience with Galax Trail may lead to further refinement of the ordinance.
The Surry County Board of Commissioners will meet for its regular meeting as well as the abatement appeal and a final vote on next year’s county budget on June 17 at 6 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse in Dobson.
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