The Vance County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously at Monday’s regular meeting to begin the legal process that will result in the demolition of a property at 43 Main Street in Kittrell.
Commissioners declined to act at last month’s meeting, citing a need for the Vance County Planning Department to research means by which the owner could be afforded financial assistance in renovating or demolishing the property.
Jordan McMillen of the Vance County Planning Department told members that his department had looked for funding and volunteer organizations to help the property owner, Pearlean Goode Jones. He told commissioners that most of the available funding deals with residential properties.
As for volunteer organizations, McMillen said that Leadership Vance had taken an interest in the project, but that the interest had lessened because of liability issues.
McMillen said that he had talked with the owners several times, and that they felt the property could still be repaired. This opinion was contradicted by the senior building code inspector, who felt it was beyond repair.
McMillen asked County Attorney Jonathan Care to comment on the liability issues if the building were to fall down. Care said that he was concerned about discussing what is or is not the county’s liability in an open meeting. However, he added pointedly that he was concerned that McMillen’s department had determined that the building represented a health and safety risk.
Immediately after Care’s comment, Commissioner Deborah Brown moved to begin the action to demolish the structure.