The town’s code enforcement officer has filed two unsafe building reports. One report is for a property at 6018 Stockton-Hartfield Road, Dewittville. The other report is for a property located at 5982 Fisherman’s Lane, Hartfield.

The Dewittville property has been ordered to be repaired and cleaned up by Aug. 13, while the Hartfield property has been ordered to be addressed by Sept. 12.

Jeffrey Munson is the owner of the Dewittville property. The report states that the code enforcement office has received many complaints over the years about the house on the property “as it became dilapidated and also about the condition of the surrounding structures and property.”

The report alleges that Muson has been contacted multiple times over the years, but has failed to acknowledge the issues, let alone take any steps to remedy them.

Submitted Photos This property located at 5982 Fisherman’s Lane, Dewittville, has been ordered to be improved by September.

The report was filed by Jeffrey Paddock, who has since retired as code enforcement officer. In it, he writes, “Based on my investigation, including many visits to the property over the last few years, it is my opinion that the rear addition to the house, the attached garage, and two out-structures on the premises are unsafe structures, as defined in the Town of Chautauqua’s unsafe Building and Collapsed Structure Law. Although I have not been able to conduct an interior inspection of the main house, it does not appear from the outside to be unsafe.”

Paddock said he recommends that the town board “find that the two outbuildings, the kitchen addition, and the garage on the premises are dangerous and unsafe to the public, and that it moves forward with the process outlines in the Unsafe Buildings and Collapsed Structure Law to demolish the outbuildings and parts of the main house.”

5982 FISHERMAN’S LANE, HARTFIELD

Bruce Walter is the owner of the Hartfield property. In the Unsafe Building report on their structure, it states that the town demolished an unsafe structure at 5984 Fisherman’s Lane in 2010. Since then, the town has received multiple complaints about the property.

A Notice of Violation and Order to Remedy the property was sent to Walter in August, 2015, which allegedly was ignored.

The report states that the cinder block pier foundations of the main structure are buckling, the outdoor wooden floor and subfloor are dry rotting, nearly all of the pier foundations on the structure are compromised, and the way the structure is leaning, it will likely fall into the neighbor on the south side.

Paddock, in his report, states that the structure is clearly not safe for human occupation or use. “The combination of the buckling piers and dry rot creates a hazardous situation where the building could collapse at any time. I am particularly concerned about the next time the structure receives a heavy snow load. When it falls, the structure is likely to fall into and damage the house and garage to the south. The best course of action, in my opinion, is to remove the structures and eliminate that risk,” he wrote.

A resolution passed by the town board states that if the owners fail or neglect to comply with the orders, the town board may decide that the structures that be demolished and removed by town employees, independent contractors, or by other lawful means available to the town and the expense shall be assessed against the properties.