Owners of three properties have until next spring to repair or demolish houses as the result of agreed-to orders resulting from Hagerstown’s first unsafe buildings code hearings. A fourth house will be scheduled for demolition.
The town called the Nov. 20 hearings after notifying owners of apparent violations of the town’s unsafe building code. The town asked the owners to attend and explain their plans for the properties. Town Council sat as the hearing authority, with only Donnie Benedict absent.
The town cited houses at 450 N. Plum St., 301 S. Perry St., 152 W. Madison St. and 347 Teetor Road.
Town Manager Chris LaMar had recommended demolition of houses based on the work of the former building commissioner, Terry Ford, who resigned in October. LaMar presented Ford’s reasoning and evidence of the violations.
Town attorney Jon Madison seemed to speak for the council when he said, “As long as there is progress being made” toward meeting the law’s standards, “the goal is to get everything in order, not to penalize someone and get rid of buildings.”
The council gave three owners until May 31 to complete the work they outlined during the hearings. Owners promised to give progress reports at the Feb. 3 council meeting. Madison said he will prepare a legal order outlining the agreed-to actions.
The house at 450 N. Plum St. had been the subject of complaints from neighbors at the Oct. 7 Town Council meeting. Vacant since its purchase a year earlier by KT Property Group LLC of Richmond, neighbors complained of open doors and windows, odors, and animals living in it.
The owner, Kyle Tom, attended the hearing and said his intention is to renovate the house and sell it. Work on another property owned by his company had delayed starting on this house. He said it would be finished early next year.
The house at 152 W. Madison St. has recently changed hands. The new owner, Jeff Loper, is renovating it so he and his family can live there, moving from Randolph County. Because Loper is fixing the problems, LaMar said his recommendation would be to give him time to complete the work before considering demolition.
At 347 Teetor Road, the current owners are cleaning the three-acre property and have removed some debris. They want to sell it but because it is apparently in a floodway, there might be restrictions on it. Council members told the owners, John Crull and Linda Crull Crutcher, to contact the federal agency with jurisdiction in flood zones to find out what they can do with it. If action is not completed by May 31, the town may consider further measures against the property.
The council ordered the fourth house, at 301 S. Perry St., to be torn down as soon as feasible. Its owners, Jessie and Amy Coffin, live next door and had bought the property to tear down the house and make the lot into a play area for their children. They have sealed the windows and doors and removed some debris. And, said Amy Coffin, “Working with the neighbors, we have trapped and relocated about 20 cats.”
However, they don’t have enough money to demolish the dilapidated house in the coming year. They had asked the town to include it in a blighted housing program funded by the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County, and let them pay back the costs in installments.
Council members said they do not want the town in the position of holding a mortgage and letting people pay over time.
Longbons said the EDC program would require the town to pay for demolition. The EDC would reimburse the town for the work. Then, the town could sell the property to the Coffins or other buyers. The proceeds would be kept to be used for future unsafe building projects.
The unsafe building hearing authority will meet as needed. The town is seeking a new building commissioner.
A version of this article appeared in the November 27 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.