The Marshall County Commissioners have taken a step to eliminated blighted or unsafe properties.
During Monday morning’s commissioners meeting, Building Inspector Chuck DeWitt and Ralph Booker presented an ordinance outlining new steps to demolish homes that have been neglected over the years.
Building Commissioner Chuck DeWitt says things have, until now, been handled differently.
“In the past, we’ve had the Health Department in charge of unsafe buildings and unsafe premises,” says DeWitt. “They were the lead group on that. Now they’re going to become a complementary group.”
The current process often takes years to complete before demolition can take place.
The ordinance presented Monday, however, establishes a board to review requests for safety repair and unsafe building elimination made by the Marshall County Building Department. The board would analyze the requests prior to making the recommendations.
Marshall County Plan Director Ralph Booker says the change will hopefully make the process more efficient.
“This has been, at least from my side: BZA and Plan Commission, a very frustrating process to try to remove buildings which are deteriorating certain neighborhoods,” says Booker. “It takes years, and years, and years to get the process through.”
The ordinance is only limited to homes in County jurisdiction, but according to the discussion, the ordinance will be recommended for individual communities in Marshall County to adopt.
At least one County Commissioner expressed caution that the new process to ratchet up expenses quickly. Booker said it’s important to, at the very least, begin implementing a solution.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved the ordinance, unanimously.
