Salisbury Thrift Travel Inn under new ownership – condemnation process would … 2011/12/20 at 8:29 pm
The property where the Thrift Travel Inn is located in Salisbury was condemned by the city and ordered demolished. The owner has failed to comply and was fined and hearing scheduled for Monday. However, now the property has had a transfer of ownership. While the city can still try to prosecute the citation for failing to demolish the building – the condemnation process has to start over again to allow the new owner a chance to bring the property into compliance.
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NEWS RELEASE: Transfer Stalls Progress on Demolition of Nuisance Property
Thrift Travel Inn – 601-603 N. Salisbury Blvd
Mayor James Ireton, Jr. and many citizens have long considered the Thrift Travel Inn on N. Salisbury Boulevard a public nuisance. Over the past several years multiple City departments, including police, fire and code compliance have responded to calls for service at the property nearly 1600 times. These calls for service place a strain on City services and keep those agencies from providing higher levels of service in other areas of the city.
The Thrift Travel Inn property was condemned and ultimately ordered demolished by the Department of Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance (NSCC). The owner failed to raze the derelict property as ordered and was eventually fined for non-compliance. A hearing was scheduled for Monday, December 5, 2011. At the last moment before this hearing, the property changed owners from Pramukah Incorporated in Salisbury to a company represented by a lawyer, Joseph Jackson in Mclean, Virginia. This change in ownership means that the City may still attempt to prosecute the citation for failure to demolish the structure but the condemnation process must start over again.
According to the City’s legal Department NSCC is required to reissue a condemnation notice to the new owner. The new owner must then be afforded the opportunity to bring the property into compliance.
“The timing of the transfer of the property, just before the court hearing regarding demolition, is an event of great interest to the city. The property transfer to a new owner delays any movement on demolition or improvement of the property, and that fact is not lost on me as mayor, on our code enforcement officers, our police and fire personnel, or the public. I assure our residents living in the vicinity of the Inn, and the retail establishments and businesses along that 13N corridor that we will vigorously pursue every avenue to rid the city of the blight that has become the Thrift Travel Inn. My confidence in Mr. Stevenson and his department’s ability to rid the city of properties like this has never been higher,” said Mayor Ireton.