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COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus Code Enforcement is seeking to have a Columbus house demolished if it is not brought up to code by the end of June.
The Columbus Board of Works has approved code enforcement’s request that the home at 112 S. Cherry St. be condemned. The property must also be vacated no later than June 5, officials said.
Code Enforcement Officer Fred Barnett said that he and fellow officer Erika Smith inspected the house last week and found it to be “unfit for human habitation.” Barnett described it as neither clean nor sanitary, with broken windows and holes in the roof.
Code enforcement is also seeking that the property be demolished if it is not brought up to state, county and city code by June 30, he said.
City attorney Alan Whitted stated that if code enforcement decides to move forward with the demolition, Barnett should present that request, along with another report on the property, at a future board meeting.
According to the Bartholomew County’s GIS system, 112 S. Cherry St. is owned by Roger K. Burton and Pamela Wilcoxon. Barnett said that Burton is in prison, while his sister, Wilcoxon, is a partial owner who lives in Florida.
“It does have a tenant in there that is not under any kind of lease, not a family member or anything of that type,” he added. “They know that she’s there, so it’s not necessarily a squatting situation, but she doesn’t belong.”
The June 5 deadline is intended to give this individual time to relocate.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
