THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050357
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 51 lines
The City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to adopt a state code that would allow officials to tear down dilapidated buildings harboring illegal drug activity.
Councilman Curtis R. Milteer and Vice Mayor Charles F. Brown dissented.
The vote came after minimal public comment during a hearing to solicit citizen input.
The code, approved during the 1994 General Assembly session, allows police to issue affidavits for a property that is believed to harbor drug activity.
Police issue the affidavit to the housing inspection office. Housing officials then notify the property owner, giving him 30 days to correct the situation. If no corrective action is taken, city officials can serve another notice that gives the owner 15 days before the property is removed or demolished.
Milteer and Brown questioned the code's enforcement.
Milteer - who said he got a number of calls from real estate investors about the proposal - said tenants who rent should share equally in the blame, not just the property owner. Meanwhile, Brown said he was worried that police and inspectors would unfairly target lower-income neighborhoods.
City Attorney C. Edward Roettger said the code's aim is to target abandoned structures, not those inhabited by residents. Property owners with grievances can sue the city, Roettger said.
Several other council members and the few citizens who spoke at Wednesday's meeting said the code is needed.
``This is just one piece that will fit into the puzzle to fight illicit drug use,'' said Councilman S. Chris Jones. ``This gives us a tool to get rid of property in a reasonable amount of time.''
King S. Bishop, a civic leader in the Saratoga-Philadelphia community, said the code is good news. Bishop said he and other residents have worked hard to improve the neighborhood and say the code will help their efforts.
In other business, the City Council voted unanimously to spend $30,000 to restore the old CSX train station off Main Street.
The approval is the last step in a nearly three-year process to save the station, which was built in 1834.
Earlier this summer, the city was awarded a Virginia Department of Transportation grant of $240,000, which will go toward refurbishing the station. The Downtown Suffolk Association and the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society also joined forces to privately raise $30,000.
City officials plan to turn the station into a museum and visitor's center by late fall.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL by CNB