NC town sues owners who won't demolish beach homes

[ccharles000]

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/19/444429/nc-town-sues-owners-who-wont-demolish.html

NAGS HEAD, N.C. -- The North Carolina coastal town of Nags Head has sued nearly 20 owners of damaged vacation homes who haven't responded to town orders to demolish or relocate their homes.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., reported that Mayor Bob Oakes says the town is suing 17 of the 26 owners who haven't resolved nuisance notices, issued in November, ordering that the houses be removed. The owners of the other nine homes are cooperating, Oakes said.

The town wants the homes removed so it can proceed with a nourishment project that would replace beach lost to erosion.

Damaged houses aren't the only problem: Exposed septic tanks, ripped-up sandbags, partially collapsed houses, piles of splintered wood, and broken remnants of household contents are scattered up and down the beach. Dunes have pieces of covered wire and pipes poking from them.

[SoCalDem]

1. Perhaps these people are broke, and cannot afford to fix or remove them

Suing them seems to serve no real purpose. Why not just REMOVE them, and rededicate that land as public buffer land..never to be rebuilt upon..by ANYONE?

[zbdent]

2. as soon as that happens, I'd imagine that

they'd suddenly appear and their "eminent domain fighting" lawyers would be raising a stink ...

bet that's what they're waiting for ... for the e.d. to start, and then they sue for the "lost" $$$ for their land ...

[SoCalDem]

3. even so, the cost of removal will probably equal the "value"

and failing that, a reassessment will surely wash out the rest. They probably cannot even get insurance anymore on those "waterfront" homes..

Whatever happens, no homes should be rebuilt.. pay the people off or sue them into settling for court-costs & removal costs.. It will probably be a washout.
Hurricane season is almost here again, and pieces of that debris will be flying around damaging other people's property..

[zbdent]

4. house value ... nil ...

land value of a beach home ... outrageous ... thus that's what the "owners" would scream about ... location, location, location.

[SoCalDem]

5. if it's zoned into a public buffer zone, the "building on it" value is zero

game-set-match

[zbdent]

6. and if they're grandfathered?

I mean, they originally were allowed to build there ... so now the "value" of the land would be taken into account ... the "fair value" which a similar piece of land would be ...

Yeah, they can't build on it now ... but they sure can scream about how much value it would be now.