Official: Worst living conditions in city

The ceiling collapses at 318 E. 11th St., as photographed after the city obtained an administrative warrant to enter the home.

City officials say this photograph shows exposed wiring at 318 E. 11th St.

A bathroom at 312 E. 11th Street, as photographed by a city housing official during an inspection.

Four homes in the 300 block of East 11th Street have inadequate plumbing, as shown by this 'waste bucket,' city officials say.

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

People are still living in houses that city officials described as deplorable and appalling after a May inspection.

Code Services Manager Chris Branham said conditions inside four houses in the 300 block of East 11th Street are the worst he has seen in Salisbury.

The homes, which he entered after obtaining an administrative warrant, were “alarming” and “uninhabitable,” Branham told City Council Tuesday.

Two of the four homes are occupied, and all are owned by John King, who told the Post he has cleaned them up since the inspection.

In May, the occupied homes had mold growing inside, exposed wiring, a collapsing ceiling, a hole in the floor, inadequate plumbing and other violations of minimum housing standards, Branham said.

Tenants in one home were using a bucket for a bathroom, he said.

Branham inspected the houses May 28. Three months later, on Aug. 31, he sent a letter to King, notifying him of the violations and giving him 30 days to make repairs or submit a written plan.

The houses did not meet criteria to begin condemnation proceedings, Branham said.

There was nothing immediately life-threatening in the homes, he said, although the water probably was not safe for drinking or bathing based on appearance.

He said he did not call the Rowan County Department of Social Services because there was no evidence of children in the homes, such as toys.

“Nothing was pink or blue,” he said.

He said he asked one young woman if she had children living in the house, and she answered no.

He did not call the Rowan County Health Department because the city enforces minimum housing standards. When people complain to the health department about inadequate housing, the health department calls him, Branham said.

He wanted to give the owner a chance to fix the problems, he said.

When asked by council members if he had given tenants any contact information for Rowan Helping Ministries, social services or other sources of assistance, Branham said he hadn’t yet but would.

He told the Post he didn’t talk with tenants about applying for public housing through the Salisbury Housing Authority because he didn’t want to overwhelm them, but would provide the information later.

“I don’t know a lot about public housing,” he said.

Branham said he advised tenants they were living in uninhabitable conditions in hopes that it “might trigger their own momentum” to move.

Several tenants were excited to show him the deplorable conditions, while other were angry at his presence, Branham said.

The inspection prompted a public demonstration last month against “historic gentrification initiatives” by Citizens for Justice, a group led by King’s brother, Michael Lee King, and John Edward Jones.

Since Branham’s May inspection revealed conditions inside the homes, “we’ve moved just as quickly as we can,” City Manager Dave Treme said. “It’s much worse than we would have ever expected from the outside.”

Treme also said city officials “may have been slower than we needed to be,” but the city is walking a fine line because the properties are private.

“Everybody is being very deliberate,” he said.

The city has been threatened with legal action and is carefully following procedures, he said. Treme said he has repeatedly consulted with City Attorney Rivers Lawther, contributing to the delay.

Council member Pete Kennedy said someone needs to speak with tenants about other housing options.

“No one should be living in that type of condition in our city,” he said.

They need to be educated, he said.

“We owe those tenants something,” he said.

Mayor Susan Kluttz said she wasn’t sure if the city could interfere in a private contract between a property owner and a tenant.

Treme told the Post he would consult with Lawther to better understand the extent to which the city could intervene.

City staff presented the update to council in response to news coverage of the public demonstration and letters to the editor complaining about the inspection, Treme said.

“We really haven’t had an opportunity to share with council why we entered the property and what we found,” Treme said.

Staff prepared a similar presentation about the properties dated Aug. 3 but did not give it.

King said he’s completed all the repairs Branham required.

“Everything he told me to do is done,” King said.

He recently installed new bathrooms in both occupied houses, he said. Living conditions were not as bad as officials claim, he said, but tenants did not clean up after themselves.

“That’s not my responsibility,” he said.

King said he won a grant from the city for repairs but never received it. Branham said no grant was issued.

King can appeal the violations. If he doesn’t appeal, he has until Sept. 30 to make the repairs.

If conditions don’t improve, Branham on Oct. 5 will request a demolition ordinance. A 30-day eviction process would begin for tenants.

People who marched against the city last month should have been protesting these conditions, Treme said.

Council thanked community activists Fannie Butler and Dee Dee Wright for defending the city, and Kluttz said she and others had been verbally abused.

“It’s hard for me to sit here and see people criticize the city when I know we work so hard to see that all people have the best living conditions,” she said.

King said the city was using its power to take advantage of citizens.

Police have been called to the addresses — 310, 312, 318 and 320 E. 11th St. — 58 times in two years.

Contact Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.