Buildng Inspector seeks funds to demolish abandoned homes in Corbin

This house on Fourth Street is one of four being targeted for demolition.

Corbin’s Building Inspector is targeting four abandoned, blighted homes for demolition, and he’ll be asking the city’s Board of Commissioners for the funds to carry through with the cleanup effort next Monday.

Frank Burke, who serves as the town’s Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer, said that the four homes he wants razed are damaged beyond a reasonable expectation of repair, or are in imminent danger of collapse and need to be torn down for reasons of public safety.

“The newest one on this list is something I started work on five years ago,” Burke said. “It’s been going on for quite some time. One of them was one of the first projects I undertook back in 1999. It’s gone on too long. Something needs to be done with these structures.”

In a memorandum send to city commissioners Dec. 16, Burke identified the properties as:• 207 Sycamore Ave., owned by Troy Ray Cox and Lula Cox;

• 805 4th Street, owned by Brenda Thomason;

• 320 Van Dorn Ave., owned by Earl L. Karr;

• 235 Hatfield St., owned by Danny Davenport and/or Rose Adkins.

Burke said citations for property maintenance violations have been issued for each of the properties, often several times, and that a legal order for demolition has been issued by the city’s Code Enforcement Board on three of the four properties. The only exception is the property on Hatfield Street which he said was in danger of collapsing and that he was invoking his powers as Building Inspector to have it immediately demolished because it is a public hazard.

“It has also turned into a tire dump,” Burke said of the home. “People seem to think they can just lay their used tires on the porch or in the yard. It’s gotten to be a big problem.”

Burke said one of the homes was severely damaged by fire. The Van Dorn Ave. property owner is in a nursing home, he said, and has been vandalized to the point that it is nothing more than a shell of a house.

The Code Enforcement Board has the authority to order property owners to repair or demolish troubled structures. The board can also issue civil fines and order liens be placed against property to help recover the cost of clean up if the city is forced to take action. Burke said that in each instance, everything has been done to try to recoup as must of the cost as possible.
The last time the city undertook a wide-ranging effort to demolish abandoned properties, Burke said it typically cost about $3,000 to $3,500 per home. Since, the cost has risen to roughly $5,000 on average.

“If it involves a lot of brick or is a particularly large house it is more,” Burke said. “Dump fees are apparently higher than they used to be.”

Burke said he has asked for bids for the demolition effort, and has only received one so far, though there are other contractors who have expressed interest.

“We’ve got at least half a dozen more besides these four that I’d like to concentrate on after this,” Burke said. “There’s probably a dozen more beyond that where we need to get the process started.”

Burke said since its inception in 2003, the Code Enforcement Board has forced the demolition of roughly 100 blighted homes.

“I know it’s made a difference, but sometimes you can’t tell it out there,” he said. “I’m amazed. It’s a shame.”