Catherine Arrington is glad that the city is going to take steps to try to make sure a fire-damaged house a couple of doors away from her residence in the Battleboro community is no longer part of her neighborhood’s landscape.
“I think it’s disastrous, I really do,” Arrington said in an interview last month about the structure, which is in the 100 block of Owens Circle and is also surrounded by overgrown shrubbery and tall grass. “It’s unhealthy. It smells — and it needs to come down.”
Arrington also called the dilapidated structure an eyesore that downgrades the neighborhood, which is in the southeast part of the Battleboro community. “We are trying to work on our houses to keep them upgraded and looking good — and that just takes away from everything,” Arrington said.
She is retired from having worked more than a quarter-century just down U.S. 301 at Abbott Laboratories, which today is Pfizer.
The subject of the dilapidated structure off Owens came up as an addition to the City Council regular meeting July 22 at Councilman Reuben Blackwell’s request. Blackwell, whose ward includes the Battleboro community, presented a petition seeking both demolition and a clearing of the lot signed by residents of Owens, including Arrington.
“This is what they have been looking at for the last two years,” Blackwell said as images of the structure were shown to the audience.
“It has been through several iterations of code enforcement,” Blackwell also said.
Blackwell eventually made an amended motion, seconded by Councilman Richard Joyner, that was unanimously approved by the council.
Blackwell’s amended motion included ensuring that the legal process is followed and completed and that the city also would allocate the appropriate amount of money needed to pay to demolish the structure once the process is completed. The motion included calling for placing a lien, that is, a legal claim on the property, that the city would be able to enforce when appropriate to be able to recover any spending by the municipality in the process.
Earlier on in the discussion phase of the item, Blackwell had made a motion for demolition with a second from Joyner.
Councilman Lige Daughtridge, in response to that first motion, said that while he is fully in favor of going through the demolition process of a property such as this one, he wanted to know whether the city can legally tear a structure down without following the process when that structure remains someone’s property.
Daughtridge also wanted to know whether any legal action can be taken against the property owner to recover the municipality’s money after the demolition.
Interim City Attorney Colin McGrath told Daughtridge that state law significantly limits the city’s authority to go in and tear down someone’s structure, although the city does have some authority to lessen public health nuisances.
McGrath also said that there are other processes that can be used under state law to demolish a structure, with each part of the law providing for a specific notice and an opportunity for the property owner to first be heard.
He also said that if the city demolishes the structure, then the costs of demolition are charged to the property owner. He also said that if the amount is not paid, then a lien is placed on the property.
Blackwell said that there are plenty of structures that have gone through the process leading up to demolition and that should be demolished, but that the last step is not taken of bringing the matter to the City Council.
“What’s the point of going through the process if the process is not completed?” Blackwell said.
Councilman Andre Knight said that he is still surprised that this conversation is occurring because the discussion occurred in depth months ago.
Knight also said that he had already brought up the subject of several dilapidated structures.
Councilman Tom Harris also recalled that he stated months ago that it would be nice to have a list of all the structures that suffered damage due to fire.
Harris more specifically expressed concern that he can envision every month a council member is going to have a petition before the panel to vote on whether a particular structure needs to be demolished.
Harris requested City Manager Keith Rogers Jr. provide at the next council work session a detailed list of all burned structures, along with any process that has been started on each of them.
Rogers said that city staff is in the communities working to make sure that code enforcement occurs. Rogers also said that he knows city staff have engaged in ride-alongs with Mayor Sandy Roberson and council members to find out whether there are any additional concerns.
Rogers also said that three dilapidated structures previously discussed by the council have been demolished.
He said that this was the first time that the structure off Owens has been brought to his attention in this regard and that he and his team would be happy to look into that matter.
He also said that he and his team would be happy to bring a comprehensive list and an action plan to a future council work session.
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