Aldermen are expected to authorize two Starkville structures for demolition Tuesday after city inspectors deemed the buildings unfit and unsafe for human habitation.
Two buildings — one located at 113 Curtis Circle and another located at an unspecified address near the intersection of Austin Lane and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. — are up for demolition after staff declared the dilapidated buildings a health and safety hazard.
Liens are expected to be placed upon property owners to recuperate the The Curtis Circle location, according to city documents, which has been abandoned for years. The case was reopened after previous attempts to rectify the situation stemming from 2007 failed.
Parts of the former house have been removed, but the shell itself remains and is in an unsafe state.
Photos taken by city staff show the lot littered with building debris. Since a door does not exist at the shell, a photo shows the city’s notice was taped to rotting wood hanging from the structure near eye level.
The property near the Austin Lane-MLK Jr. Drive intersection was left to the trustees of Whitworth College, a former women’s college in Brookhaven that no longer exists, city documents state.
Inspectors found numerous issues with the structure: rotten wood prevents the exterior door from being securely closed; floor joists and sub-floor areas are also rotten and have fallen; water lines are exposed; and mold and mildew from humidity and improper ventilation was found throughout the building.
In other business
The board could allow West Memorial Funeral Home to operate a location in a buffer district located near the Garrard Road-Highway 389 intersection in north Starkville.
A 9,000-square-foot building is planned at the location, one that would house the funeral home and another office. Its construction requires approval of conditional uses since the Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission previously approved the construction in 2010 but work did not begin within six months.
The planning and zoning board again approved plans based on 12 conditions, including the company’s compliance with state requirements for funeral home and mortuary establishments, the approval of licenses and certifications before funeral home-related business begins and the construction of an 8-foot privacy fence along property lines where corpse or casket loading and unloading activities are visible from adjacent properties.
A public hearing on the matter is scheduled before aldermen take up the conditional use request.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall’s courtroom.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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