HUNTINGTON Ƶ Seven months after the Cabell County Commission approved the Unsafe Structure and Property Ordinance, it has gone into effect and the agencyƵs seven members have been approved.
The ordinance Ƶ designed to allow Cabell County residents to report unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous structures or properties outside municipalities Ƶ was approved at the Cabell County Commission meeting on Dec. 22, 2022.
It went into effect in July, and on July 27, commissioners voted to approve members of the Unsafe Building and Enforcement Agency.
The members, Barboursville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andrew Frazier; engineer Adam Weible; Cabell-Huntington Health Department Chief Operations Officer Tim Hazelett; Director of the Cabell County Solid Waste Authority Mark Buchanan; Milton Code Enforcement Officer Mike Ramsey; Cabell County Commission Permits Planning Director Chad Nelson and Cabell County Sheriff Chuck Zerkle, met for the first time and were sworn in Monday.
Properties or structures reported under the ordinance would be considered detrimental to public safety or welfare, whether the result of natural or man-made force or effect.
ƵHistorically, the Cabell County Commission has been unable to address the concerns of residents regarding severely dilapidated and unsafe structures outside the municipalities. Cabell County residents deserve to live in a safe, healthy environment,Ƶ said Commission President Kelli Sobonya in a press release.
Sobonya and former commissioners Jim Morgan and Caleb Gibson approved the ordinance. The Unsafe Building and Enforcement Agency members were approved in July by commissioners Sobonya, John Mandt Jr., and Liza Caldwell.
ƵI think we need to be very, very clear that itƵs not gonna be a pick-on-your-neighbor type of thing,Ƶ Sobonya told The Herald-Dispatch on Monday. ƵThis is gonna be for severely dilapidated and abandoned structures that pose a safety or health hazard and that theyƵve been deteriorated to such a degree to be significantly unsafe.Ƶ
The ordinance says the agency must consist of the county engineer; county health officer; a fire chief from a county volunteer fire department; the county litter control officer; and two members of the public who will serve two-year terms. Zerkle is in charge of enforcing orders of the commission.
The agencyƵs job is to regulate the repair, alteration or improvement of properties in need, or the vacating, removal or demolition of buildings that are found to be unfit for habitation. The agency will also be responsible for regulating the removal and cleanup of any accumulation of trash or debris that is unsafe for public safety and welfare.
Sobonya said the ordinance is in an Ƶinfant stageƵ and may be amended in the future.
ƵWe believe in liberty and freedom, and people want to be out in the country for a reason,Ƶ Sobonya said. ƵThey donƵt want to have the government tell them what to do with their property, and thatƵs not what this does, you know, that freedom still exists.Ƶ
Members of the agency, according to the procedures, are expected to investigate complaints within 30 days and return the findings to the commission, which could issue an order for recommendations.
Property owners would be able to request a hearing to argue against recommendations with which they disagree. Owners will have a right to appeal any findings to the Cabell County Circuit Court. The property owners also face penalties of up to $50 per day for failure to follow the commissionƵs orders.
The complaint form includes a check-all-that-apply section to select which violations the offending party violated, including accumulation of debris, toxic condition, dilapidation, fire hazard or other conditions.
The agency was created under State Code §8-12-16, which authorizes the governing body to designate an enforcement agency to provide Ƶfair and equitable rules of procedure and any other procedures required by law or necessary and appropriate to guide the code enforcement agency, or its officials, in the investigation of any structure, dwelling, or building conditions, and in any corrective action taken by the code enforcement agency.Ƶ
To file a complaint, visit to print off the complaint form and submit to the Cabell County Commission.
