By DAVE SCHULTZ
The city wants the property at 427 W. Lancaster St. cleaned up immediately.
At Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety, Mayor John Whicker said the property will be the first significant test of the city’s junk ordinance which was put in place in early 2021.
“I have not seen such a quantity of junk in any other location in the city,” Whicker said in a letter to his fellow members of the Board of Works, Scott Mentzer and Roger Thornton.
A copy of a letter sent to the property’s owner, Jayne Schoeff, from outgoing Building Commissioner Ted Smith was included in the packet of information assembled for board members prior to Tuesday’s meeting. In it, Smith cited three particular problems at the site — furniture on the front porch, junk outside the fencing, and the back yard being “full of junk to the height of the fence.”
The property was cited last Aug. 27 and an extension was granted that gave the owner until Feb. 1, 2022, to clean up the property. An inspection done on May 1, 2022, showed no progress was being made on clearing up the violation. “In fact, the situation has regressed to the previous condition,” Smith said in the violations letter.
He assured the owner that no more extension would be granted.
Theoretically, the owner has until next Sunday, May 15, to have the property cleaned up or request a hearing in front of the Board of Works. However, the board approved a motion Tuesday that would allow the city to begin abatement measures next week if no hearing request was made.
Some effort at cleanup was in progress Tuesday evening.
daves@news-banner.com
