County to vote on cleaning up, tearing down ramshackle buildings

Dilapidated houses and other deteriorated dwellings unfit for humans to occupy could be demolished and the property owners billed for the work under new regulations being considered by the Horry County Council.

Problem structures include flood and fire damaged houses or outbuildings that have been neglected for extended periods of time, as well as run-down properties that officials say are being used for drug dens and other criminal activities.

Old barns and commercial property are excluded from the ordinance that’s under consideration, and county council members specifically requested that structures targeted for cleanup be generated by complaints from the public rather than county officials.

If orders to make repairs are ignored, the county would exercise its police powers to repair or demolish the building, and place a lien on the property to pay for the work, according to a memo outlining the proposed ordinance by Deputy County Attorney Randolph Haldi.

“I think it’s a good thing in certain places, and I think it’s probably a good thing if it were complaint driven,” said Jody Prince, Horry County councilman.

But not every dilapidated property is a problem, said Prince, citing as an example houses built in the 1920s that are located in the back of someone’s 50-acre property.

“I want to make sure we’re not setting out to find places like this and tear it down if it’s not impacting someone else,” Prince said.

Haldi said it would be up to adjoining property owners to petition the county to do something about abandoned buildings. It’s not for cases in which a building needs a new coat of paint or a few repairs, but property that poses a risk to public safety because of a precariously-standing structure, or health concerns including threats of the Zika virus.

The resistance to clean up dilapidated buildings comes mostly from out-of-state property owners, rather than locals, said Steve Gosnell, assistant county administrator.

“What we have now has no teeth in it,” Councilman Johnny Vaught said of the county’s current regulation.

The county does not even have the authority to issue repair orders, Haldi said.

“These properties arise for various reasons — it could be neglect, it could be some kind of catastrophe, flood or fire — people just don’t have the wherewithal to make repairs,” Haldi said.

The council’s Infrastructure and Regulations Committee has approved the draft ordinance, which now goes to the full county council on Sept. 6 for the first of three required votes to pass the measure.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "County to vote on cleaning up, tearing down ramshackle buildings."