Hamlet’s lack of building inspections continues to draw concerns, but how to move forward was a topic of some debate during the last town council meeting. Fire Chief Brad Hazelton told council members that, until recently, he was unaware that new buildings are not formally inspected.
“That blows my mind,” he said. “What happens if I send Frankie into a house fire and something’s built wrong and Frankie gets killed because the building wasn’t inspected to see if it was built right to begin with?”
Others said a lack of town inspections doesn’t instill confidence in potential homebuyers.
But local property owner Lee Nagai warned against overregulation, saying he wasn’t sure he’d want to live in a place where he’d have to call an inspector every time he put a shovel in the ground. “Having a building inspector doesn’t guarantee safety,” Nagai said. “I’m not saying it’s bad, but it doesn’t guarantee safety. I mean, ultimately, it still boils down to the person building it and whoever that person is who you’re going to hire as an inspector.”
Hazelton replied, “Well, in the town, the way the town is right now, I myself, who have no carpenter skills at all, I can just be like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna build a house, and I’m gonna sell it,’ and I can do that and get away with it.”
Council Member Brian Earnest says he’s willing to look into the possibility of contracting with Knox or Starke County for building inspections, but that’s complicated by the fact that Starke County is currently without an inspector. He’s also been pushing for the town to increase its permit fees to pay for it. While many places base the fee for new construction on square footage, Hamlet has a flat fee of $25, no matter what type of building is taking place.
But Council President Dave Kesvormas still wants to do a larger overhaul of the town’s building ordinances. “If we’re going to have an inspector, you should have some teeth,” Kesvormas said. “Let’s redo the ordinances. I don’t have an issue. Let’s find the money and do it. Let’s get a quote. Because our ordinances are very vague.”
“And they’re very old,” added Town Attorney Martin Bedrock.
Meanwhile, the Hamlet Zoning Board agreed to seek quotes for the cleanup of the property at 106 South Hamlet Street, after the owner reportedly failed to bring it into compliance and didn’t show up to a scheduled hearing. Board members also discussed the demolition of other properties considered to be in violation.
