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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/4/2021 - Building Appeal - Minutes -1 Board of Building Appeals August 4, 2021 Minutes A meeting of the Board of Building Appeals of the City of Salem, Virginia, was held on August 4, 2021, in Council Chambers, City Hall, 114 North Broad Street, Salem, Virginia, at 3:00 p.m. concerning the dilapidated structure on the property located at 17 7th Street in the City of Salem, Virginia. The Board—John Hildebrand, Nathan Routt, and Joe Driscoll; presided together with Troy D. Loving, Building Official; Jim Guynn, City Attorney, and Krystal M. Graves, Secretary; and the following business was transacted: WHEREAS, it was noted that notice of such hearing was published in the July 22 and 29, 2021, issues of the Salem Times-Register, a newspaper published and having general circulation in the City of Salem. ON A MOTION MADE BY MEMBER DRISCOLL, SECONDED BY MEMBER HILDEBRAND, AND DULY CARRIED, Nathan Routt was elected chair of the Board – the roll call vote: all – aye. WHEREAS, Nathan Routt called the meeting to order and administered the oath. WHEREAS, Mr. Routt stated that the first item on the agenda to be heard is 17 7 th Street and asked if there was anyone present who would like to speak; and WHEREAS, Troy Loving, Building Official, stated that there is a building located on the South Market side of 17 7th Street that has structural failure, which is the issue before the Board; and WHEREAS, Tom McClung, property owner, 1500 Hollybrook Road, Salem, appeared before the Board and stated that he is the “T” of TLF, LLC, owners of the property; he stated that the structure in discussion is located on the north side of South Market Street on the property, known as the “stable” when the company had horses and sold hay; the owners agree that it needs to come down as there is no purpose beyond that; he stated that the property adjoins the Virginia Department of Transportation facilities and will most likely need access to that property, which may take some time to get the required permits through the state; there are contents in the building unknown to the owners and will need some time to locate the owners of the contents; he stated that the owners would like to work on the contents and permit for 30 days and then 90 days to complete the demo of the structure; and WHEREAS, Member Driscoll questioned if Mr. McClung meant an additional 90 days or 90 days total; and 2 WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that he would like 90 days from when they get approval from VDOT; he stated that he cannot guarantee that they can have it completed within 90 days including obtaining approval from VDOT; and WHEREAS, Member Driscoll questioned the type of permitting being sought from the State; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated it is to access the property; he stated that the structure is located near the property line and if debris fall onto VDOT property, the owners cannot just walk onto the property to remove the debris; therefore, the owners are seeking permission from VDOT to go onto property owned by VDOT; and WHEREAS, Chair Routt questioned which building on the property is in question and if there are issues with other structures on the property; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that it is the “stable” structure that is to be demolished and the photos show other buildings on the property with structural deterioration, but the purpose of the hearing today as he understands it for the stable structure; and WHEREAS, the Building Official questioned when the plans were going to be submitted for the other structures on the property; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that they have begun discussions with an architect to evaluate the structure and what’s required on the other building; and WHEREAS, the Building Official asked what is taking so long to begin working on the issues because he first brought the issues of the structures to Mr. McClung’s attention in October of 2020; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that he has cleared an entire tub of items from the structure that belonged to the lumber company; he has been weed eating along as he can along with help from the city to weed eat as well; he stated that it has taken time; his brother has worked with the Building Official’s office to get the permit with what he feels are great trials and tribulations in terms of the requirements there for what would otherwise be a simple demolition permit; he is not sure what is needed to take the building down; and WHEREAS, the Building Official stated that he needs to apply for a demolition permit and an asbestos report; and WHEREAS, Chairman Routt asked the Building Official if the structure in question is the only structure with issues; and 3 WHEREAS, the Building Official stated that another structure has pieces falling off of it, but they are trying to apply for a permit for repair it—they just need to turn in some plans; but the structure in question is falling down, Mr. McClung agreed that it’s falling down; and WHEREAS, Chairman Routt stated he thought it was for the entire lot because it’s been an eyesore for years; and WHEREAS, the Building Official stated that the reason why the issue is before the Board is that there has not been any action in eight months; and WHEREAS, Member Driscoll stated that it does not appear that anything has been done other than some minor mowing and weed eating since the initial email in November of 2020; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that is not true—one of the things he was asked to do was to clean the walkway adjacent to the creek, which was done; an entire tub of material was cleaned out from within the building in question; all inoperable vehicles have been removed from the property and he feels to say nothing has been done is a misrepresentation of the facts to which he takes great exception; and WHEREAS, Lew McClung, 1485 Hollybrook Road, Salem, appeared before the Board and stated that something that has not been considered and may not matter is that in the initial meeting, the Building Official stated that people had been harassing the city about Salem Frame for years and the City doesn’t want to be hard on anyone, but as long as they had a plan in place, which took three or four years, it was okay; they submitted a plan; and WHEREAS, the Building Official stated that he did not say that, the Fire Marshall made that statement; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that one of the city representatives made that statement; therefore, a timeline was submitted which was immediately rejected; it was a 24- month timeline where the City’s was eight and they would be happy to split the difference between the two; in that time, there was COVID which greatly took away time available to work on the property as he has a three-year old at home to care for with daycare being closed; he also had a son come back home who was in trouble; he lost his mother, which took a great deal of time to deal with that matter; he hoped the Board would take those events into consideration as well; and WHEREAS, David McClung, 1480 Hollybrook Road, Salem, appeared before the Board and stated that he worked at the site for 40 years—all of his business experience was there; he stated that he has a fondness for the site and has somewhat of an artist’s eye and doesn’t see ugliness that other people see; he further stated that it is their intention to remove the building adjacent to the State Highway Department and the creek and South Market Street; he stated that he knows the structure is a stable “stable” and went on to discuss how the structure is 4 built, history of the property, the Flood of 1985, etc.; he further stated that he and his family has a long standing reputation of doing what they say they’re going to do and that they are going to remove the building, but they need time; he stated that in the last several weeks he has been diagnosed with gallbladder cancer; his gallbladder was removed three or four weeks ago and it was discovered that it was cancerous; he does not know what will take place and asked the Board to consider giving his children breathing room if things don’t go well; and WHEREAS, John Breen, 142 Bogey Lane, Salem, appeared before the Board and stated that he started a quest back in September 2020 concerning this property; he stated that he used to hold a Class A contractor’s license through his company in the State of Virginia; he further stated that while his eyes may not be artistically inclined, they can view and determine things that are not right, probably aren’t safe, and certainly do not lend themselves to the betterment of the City of Salem; he stated that he went by the property again today and so much remains that didn’t happen overnight—nothing being discussed happened yesterday, the day before, five years ago or ten years ago; it’s been a total benign, neglect situation and is an eyesore; today there is an unlicensed semi-trailer parked in the city right-of-way, storage facility in the city right-of-way with storage in it; he knows that the Building Official and other city officials have tried to work with the owners, but it always delay, delay, delay; he stated that he understands personal situations, but it is not an excuse; every property owner has a strict obligation to follows the laws of Virginia and the Code of Salem; he asked the Board to require the situation to be abated; and WHEREAS, Chair Routt asked Tom McClung what contents of the building needs time to remove; and WHEREAS, Tom McClung stated that it is not the contents of the building that will take time to remove, but locating the owners of the contents; he stated that he knows approximately 80 percent of who owns the remaining contents of the building, but not the rest of it; and WHEREAS, Chair Routt questioned if there was another building on site the contents could be relocated to; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated possibly; and WHEREAS, Member Driscoll stated that the front of the structure is wide open and questioned if the contents were weatherable; and WHEREAS, Mr. McClung stated that even though the roof shows deterioration it has such structure underneath it that and what is located away from the creek is protected from the influence of weather; and 5 WHEREAS, a discussion was held regarding the size of the structure, the need to get permission from VDOT, owners agree the structure needs to be demolished, communication between city officials and owners; date work should have been completed; etc. WHEREAS, it was noted that the property owners wanted three years to complete the work and the city gave them eight months, until July 12, 2021; there has been no communication from the property owners since January 6, 2021; and WHEREAS, a discussion was held regarding time to get permission from VDOT, need to get permission from VDOT, obtaining a demolition permit, communication with the Building Official, time to complete demolition, etc.; and WHEREAS, Chair Routt stated that he feels that the owners should give VDOT notice, but they do not need permission from VDOT to demolish the structure and Member Driscoll concurred; and WHEREAS, no other person(s) appeared before the Board; ON MOTION MADE BY MEMBER DRISCOLL, SECONDED BY CHAIR ROUTT, AND DULY CARRIED, the property owner has 120 days from the date of the meeting to obtain a demolition permit and demolish the structure; the Building Official is to be copied on any/all correspondence with the Virginia Department of Transportation relating to the demolition of the structure; if the structure is not demolished within 120 days, the City will demolish the structure with the costs charged to the owner, and a lien will be placed on the property for said demolition – the roll call vote: all – aye. ON MOTION MADE BY CHAIRMAN BOTTS AND DULY CARRIED, the meeting was hereby adjourned at 3:53 p.m.