Pikeville: Owners have 60 days to fix up condemned buildings
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on March 14, 2017 7:52 AM
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Three abandoned buildings in downtown Pikeville, 105, 107 and 111 W. Main Street, have been condemned and talks have begun about funding for the demolition of the properties that will cost around $30,000.
PIKEVILLE -- Three condemned buildings along Main Street need to come down, board members said this month, but the demolition cost poses an issue.
Michael Hunt, town administrator, said buildings, located at 105, 107 and 111 W. Main St., are abandoned and unsightly. He estimated the cost to demolish all three at $30,000 due to the commercialization of the buildings.
"I will say that the board hasn't approved it; it's the funding mechanism," Hunt said. "But we would like something to be done, sooner rather than later."
He said the building at 111 W. Main St. was once a BB&T bank, but he could not confirm the previous uses of the other two buildings.
"The immediate focus is, quite frankly, Main Street just because it's in a commercial district," Hunt said. "The old BB&T building is going to be expensive by demolition standards."
A house at 201 W. Hamm St. is also abandoned, and three houses just outside of the city are condemed as well, Hunt said.
Hunt said three homes, located at 813 and 821 Pikeville Princeton Road and 170 Booker St., are outside the city's extra-territorial jurisdiction. But he said citizens of the town have complained about the buildings' sight.
"The homes are bad there and need to be taken care of," Hunt said.
He said all seven structures are estimated to cost $50,000 to demolish.
Each house and building -- except for 107 Main St. -- has an owner, and Hunt said the owners should receive a letter by next week instructing them to rehabilitate the structures within 60 days or allow the town to proceed with the demolition process.
If the owners choose not to rehabilitate or make them "livable," Hunt said, a governmental entity will proceed with the demolition of the buildings.
Hunt said any person who chooses to purchase the property will hold the original lien and pay original back taxes.