The Hamlet Zoning Board is looking at moving forward with condemnation proceedings on 503 South Starke Street. The owner had until Wednesday’s meeting to bring the house into compliance with the town’s unsafe structure ordinance.
That included connecting the water and sewer lines. But during the meeting, town officials said the owner put the two lines in the same trench, when they should be 10 feet apart.
Beyond that, Board Member Brian Earnest wondered if there were other safety issues. “My personal opinion is, if you go through there, you’re going to find that it’s not safe. I mean, you’ve got a hole in the roof. I think the windows just have boards on them right now.”
As a next step, Board President Dave Kesvormas said he planned to inspect the building to see if it’s compliant. “Since we don’t have a building inspector, I can do it,” he explained. “We’ll set up an appointment. I’ll go take pictures. I will do a walk-through and if it’s not, I’ll bring pictures back to the board, and you guys could make a decision based on that.”
Board members directed Street Superintendent Kevin Leinbach to start getting demolition quotes, as Town Attorney Martin Bedrock looks into the next legal steps.
