The roof at this structure on West Roseboro Street is falling down into the building and debris has prompted sidewalks to be closed due to safety concerns.
Issue of vacant Roseboro buildings continues
Pieces of facade and debris are falling into the sidewalk, prompting the town to close off the front of the buildings along the sidewalk.
The Beatitude House Thrift Store sits on the left, and the two buildings on the right have been losing pieces of facade into the sidewalk.
A current look at a property in Roseboro that has been among those in discussion by town officials.
ROSEBORO — A downtown eyesore has continually found itself in the sites of the Town of Roseboro board, and now is in the crosshairs of foreclosure.
The building, which has been a serious safety hazard over the last year, is continuing to go into a decay that is making the sidewalk underneath, on the main thread through the downtown, impassable.
“The roof has fallen in,” confirmed Mayor Alice Butler. “No one really wants to claim ownership of the building and the only way to get title for the building, from my understanding, is foreclosure.”
Butler said that including this year’s taxes there is about $18,700 in past due taxes on those buildings.
The blighted building, located in the same block as the Beatitude House Thrift Store, has been empty and neglected for quite some time, and has been mired in a multitude of unpaid taxes.
The owner, Dr. Eddie Powell, previously ran a medical practice in a house turned medical office located behind the Roseboro Street property. That house has not been occupied for some time, and is owned by another company. One other small parcel of that block was Powell’s as well, and is owned and occupied by someone else.
The property is located at 200/202 W. Roseboro St. and has been condemned by the county. The board has raised considerable concerns over the last few months as the buildings have become more and more unstable.
Some of the taxes have been paid off at the county level, she said, for some of the properties that are owned. Others haven’t been paid off at all.
A title search has to be performed, as well as the identification of any lien holders, said the Town Attorney Sandy Sanderson.
Previously, Sanderson said the county had started the foreclosure process due to substantial back taxes, which are habitually paid off by Powell just before the foreclosure process is due to start. That happened back in 2015 as well.
Additionally discussions brought up that there are substantial liens on the property for unpaid taxes by the IRS.
“We’ve been through a number of options, and I will be glad to answer any questions,” said Sanderson. “There are quite a few other lien holders on that property.”
Sanderson said that typically that the first lien holders are governmental in nature with property taxes.
“Since the county has been paid off we are the only governmental agency on property taxes that are owed,” explained Sanderson. “We would likely be number one on the list in terms of that.”
Unfortunately since the property has been condemned Sanderson said that getting the property taxes is not a likely event.
“The building looks horrible on Main Street,” said Butler of the structures. “Are we able to do anything with that building when no one will take responsibility for it?”
Sanderson clarified that it depends on what the board’s primary goal is, as to what needs to be done. He explained that if the goal is to have it look nice as soon as possible, then it is already condemned and that they would go through that process. Cleaning it up would be at the town’s expense and would be the quickest option for that to occur, he said.
The other option is to go through the process, have it sold and the town buy it, and then clean it up after that’s done, he said.
Butler hinted that she knew of someone who was interested in the other two of the four properties that had been foreclosed on, and that they were interested in possibly bidding on the courthouse steps for it.
“I don’t know what to do here, but something has to be done, because it is dangerous,” said Commissioner Ray Clark Fisher. “It’s dangerous and that’s the part that bothers me.”
The board voted to more forward with foreclosure on all three of the properties.
Reach Emily M. Williams at 910-590-9488. Follow her on Twitter at @NCNewsWriter. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.