July 9, 2020
RE: Demolition of three buildings at 120 Depot St. and clean-up of lot.
The International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) was adopted by the Town of Pendleton in September 2018. Using the IPMC, the Town has addressed several derelict properties in town to get the owners to restore or demolish unsafe structures and clean up and maintain the lots.
The site at 120 Depot St. is one of the projects that the Town has been working on and we decided, after numerous attempts to get the owner to comply, to move forward with the demolition of the three commercial buildings at 120 Depot St. and to clean up the lot.
The buildings at 120 Depot St. were determined to be unsafe for human occupancy by the Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of Pendleton. Once a property reaches this point, the property and the buildings are in violation of the standards set forth in IPMC Sections 108.1 and 110.1.
It is the responsibility of the current owner of a property and the buildings thereon to demolish or remove the structure within sixty (60) days of receipt of notice from the Town of Pendleton. The owner also has the right to file an application for an appeal if they believe the determination was made in error. Should they wish to file an appeal, they must do so in writing, within twenty (20) days of the date of the letter, as set forth in Section 111.1 of the IPMC.
A property owner’s failure to either file a timely appeal or comply with the conditions of the notice within the specified time frame may result in the Town of Pendleton having the structure demolished or removed. Should the Town be required to take such action a lien will be placed upon the property in accordance with Section 110.3 of the IPMC.
The owner of 120 Depot St. received all notices, as required by the IPMC, and failed to comply with the requirement to restore the property or demolish the unsafe structures. Consequently, the Town of Pendleton exercised its option to move forward with the demolition and a lien will be placed on the property.
Relevant sections of the IPMC Code, used by the Town in making the decision to demolish the buildings at 120 Depot St. and clean up the site, are printed below.
108.1.1 Unsafe Structures.
An unsafe structure is one that is found to be dangerous to the life, health, property or safety of the public or the occupants of the structure by not providing minimum safeguards to protect or warn occupants in the event of fire, or because such structure contains unsafe equipment or is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation, that partial or complete collapse is possible.
110.1 General.
The code official shall order the owner or owner’s authorized agent of any premises upon which is located any structure, which in the code official’s or owner’s authorized agent judgment after review is so deteriorated or dilapidated or has become so out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, insanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation or occupancy, and such that it is unreasonable to repair the structure, to demolish and remove such structure; or if such structure is capable of being made safe by repairs, to repair and make safe and sanitary, or to board up and hold for future repair or to demolish and remove at the owner’s option; or where there has been a cessation of normal construction of any structure for a period of more than two years, the code official shall order the owner or owner’s authorized agent to demolish and remove such structure, or board up until future repair. Boarding the building up for future repair shall not extend beyond one year, unless approved by the building official.
110.3 Failure to comply.
If the owner of a premises or owner’s authorized agent fails to comply with a demolition order within the time prescribed, the code official shall cause the structure to be demolished and removed, either through an available public agency or by contract or arrangement with private persons, and the cost of such demolition and removal shall be charged against the real estate upon which the structure is located and shall be a lien upon such real estate.
If you have questions regarding the Town of Pendleton’s Code Enforcement efforts, please call Norman Durham, Code Enforcement Officer, at 864-646-9409.
