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Unsafe structures create hazard, pose challenge to town
By Carey King
Rotten floors, no heat, burst water lines and scrappy wiring at a Clayton Street trailer park had Sylva officials last week considering adding the property to its growing list of condemnation projects.
"There was one trailer that had not had heat for two years. They used space heaters and that's not good in a trailer," said one park resident who asked to remain anonymous. "But what were they going to do? They had to stay warm."
"There's 13 units in here and we're just like one family. I don't want anyone to get kicked out," said one resident of this trailer park on Clayton Street. The town of Sylva came close to adding the park to its list of future condemnation projects after residents came forward with complaints of no heat, no water and rotten flooring, and an absentee landlord who turned a deaf ear. The park has since been bought by Kari Gilchrist of Bryson City and improvements are beginning to be made, said Sylva Zoning Administrator Jim Aust. – Herald photo by Carey King
The 13 trailers and homes – located inside the horseshoe of Allen Henson Circle, off Chipper Curve Road – are still being watched carefully by Sylva Zoning Administrator Jim Aust. They most likely will not be condemned because a new owner has stepped in, Aust said.
Resident Liston Pyatte contacted the town Dec. 29 after his plumbing had frozen and burst, leaving him without water. Pyatte's attempts at contacting his landlord had gone unanswered, Aust said.
"The lack of water automatically created a violation," Aust said.
When Aust went to investigate, other residents approached him about problems in their units. Almost all the homes failed to meet the town's minimum housing standards, he said, including one trailer with a hole so big that the renter said possums had been known to come in and out.
Aust attempted to contact then-owner Jeff Francis at addresses in Florida and Montana, but having no luck, drew up a petition on behalf of residents to present to town board members. The petition would have asked leaders to do something about the "unhealthy situation," Aust said, but has since proved unnecessary since Kari Gilchrist of Bryson City purchased the park Jan. 11.
"She's going to immediately repair safety issues and get them heat," said Aust, noting that the condemnation process is on hold since the new owner is actively trying to make improvements.
Gilchrist's intervention is "lovely," Aust said, and a far cry from the responses he's had from owners of 11 other properties the town has identified for condemnation.
Those buildings, all abandoned, include: Virna Lisa mobile home park on Trailerville Lane, owned by Kirby Ensley; a warehouse and mobile home park on Poplar Drive/Dillardtown Road, owned by Grace Ensley; and a Skyland Drive mobile home park, owned by J.R. Sutton.
Two buildings on Chipper Curve Road – one known as the "Old Store," owned by Allegra Marable and Leona Davis, and another called the "Old Disco," owned by Garnell Streater – also made the list.
Abandoned houses under consideration include one on Skyland Drive owned by Keith and John Jordan, and another on Sunrise Park owned by Hilda Cabe and Robert Middleton. Other locations and owners include: Chipper Curve Road, Richard Young; Sylvan Heights Road, Glen Bryson; Business 23, Michael Messino and Shantae Lucas; and Dillsboro Road, Mrs. J.R. Chastine.
Neglected structures pose a risk to the community in two major ways, Aust said – by creating a spot where illegal activity can take place and where exploring children can get hurt.
This past fall, he attempted to contact the owners of each of the above-listed properties, but got no reply.
"Every one of these property owners has been officially notified. And (I've gotten) zero response, of course, because you can see from the condition of (the buildings) that they really don't care," Aust told town board members Jan. 11 at a meeting convened to discuss the problem.
After the town contacts property owners, the owners have 10 days to file an improvement plan. Without that, Aust can initiate condemnation orders, but he has not done so recently because of financial constraints.
Sylva leaders budgeted $12,500 this year to cover destruction and cleanup of abandoned buildings, up from $5,000 the year before, but the amount is still a far cry from the $120,000 Aust estimates it would cost to take down all 11 on the list.
"If we have to take action, that will pretty well deplete the funds," he said.
Disposal costs at the county landfill are $46 per ton for concrete blocks and bricks, Aust said, up from $6 in years past. The last demolition the town completed took more than 15 trips to the dump, he said, at about $300 per load.
"Demolition takes no time. It's just getting rid of it," Aust said. "And it doesn't take a lot of concrete blocks to make up a ton."
Money could be saved, Sylva leaders said, if the county would offer them a discounted landfill fee.
"The way I would look at it is that, (if we) clean that property up, we're putting it back in the tax base of the county and the tax base of the town for something more positive," town board member Eldridge Painter said. "I think the county should join us for this."
Other potential dollar-saving strategies could include reducing demolition-equipment rental costs by purchasing a trackhoe for town use. Public Works Director Dan Schaeffer is also working on establishing a standard manpower rate for town maintenance employees so that the cost of their work on condemned sites can be charged to owners as a lien on the property.
"We'll be able to do more projects with the little funds that we have," said Aust, noting that the first order of business will be to clean up the town's abandoned water treatment plant on Fisher Creek. The next job could be destruction of the "Old Store" on Chipper Curve Road, he said.
Meanwhile, Aust is on the lookout for other dangerous properties that need to come down.
The lack of affordable housing in Sylva often keeps renters from speaking up when their apartments or trailers are not up to par, he said.
"A lot of these people don't complain because they're scared they'll make the landlord angry," Aust said. "They're scared they'll get kicked out."
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