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Sometimes, more than good intentions are required when helping a family member in need.
That's the message Lawrence Clifford gave Betty Hall Monday at the monthly Building Code Enforcement hearing.
"Wanting to help a family member is fine," said Clifford, code enforcement hearing officer. "But having them live in an unsafe house is really not helping them - especially if someone gets killed."
Hall owns the home at 504 Hazel Street, and has allowed her brother and his family to live there free for the past several years.
The home has numerous structural building code violations and needs to be raised to allow for a crawlspace due to excessive water on the lot.
"The center beam for the roof and the floor joists have spans in excess of what is safe for the loads they have to bear," said Gene Oliver, city building inspector.
Oliver added that other structural changes have been made to the house without the proper building permits being issued or required inspections being made.
For her part, Hall said, she doesn't understand why the city thinks her home is unsafe.
"I don't understand how they can say it's unsafe," she said. "It's in better shape than several of the other homes in the neighborhood, and the city isn't doing anything about those."
Hall said she doesn't have the money to raise the home to create a crawlspace, but has filled in the low areas of the lot and that seems to have solved the water problem.
In spite of Hall's claims, Clifford said, the city had proven the home to be unsafe and ordered it vacated and sealed immediately.
In other business, Clifford issued the following orders:
• Donna Wellborn, owner of 615 Austin Drive, was fined $500 for a debris pile left by former tenant Lorraine Wussles after her old mobile home was removed.
"Lorraine Wussles did move the trailer and most of the debris after reading the article in the newspaper," said Pam Kennedy, building inspector. "All that remains is about a pickup truck load that needs to be removed."
The fine will be waived if the debris pile is removed and an inspection is passed by Nov. 30.
• Dallas and Sandra Kimes were fined $1,000 for several exterior code violations on a vacant home they own at 1413 E. Jefferson St.
The fine was postponed pending an inspection by Dec. 27.
