Tryon to demolish Rippy Rd. mobile home

Published 8:47 pm Monday, October 25, 2010

For years, Rippy Road residents have asked Tryon officials to do something about what has been called one of the biggest eyesores in town, a mobile home on Rippy Road, which is in Tryons zoning district. Tryon agreed last week to demolish the abandoned home, located at 101 Rippy Road.

Tryon Town Council approved a resolution to demolish the structure at its meeting last Tuesday. About 15 Rippy Road residents attended the meeting, urging council to take action on all the structures located on the property.

Residents of the area have attended both council and Tryon Planning Board meetings over the last couple of years regarding the property.

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Id like to applaud you all for staying interested in it and staying engaged, councilman Austin Chapman told them last week.

Calling the structure an eyesore and one of the worst cases of dilapidated housing he has seen, councilman Roy Miller urged council to move forward on enforcing its zoning rules.

Tryon code enforcer and fire chief Joey Davis said the town is at the point now where it can move forward with a demolition, as the property does not meet the towns housing code. The mobile home is dilapidated, with no windows in places and siding that has been removed. Insulation currently is showing on the outside.

Davis said the town has been involved with code enforcement with the property for some time, beginning with former town planner Melanie Sand. The town has made unsuccessful attempts to contact the property owners,&bsp; he said; letters have been returned to the town.

The town is going to look into the possibility of demolishing the other structures on the property. Officials estimate that following legal requirements, the town will be able to demolish the mobile home as soon as the first or second week in December.

A couple of years ago, Tryon decided to begin a demolition budget to clean up dilapidated structures throughout town. A few have been demolished in the towns eastside neighborhood over the past couple of years.

Some of those structures have been burned by the fire department. The town was scheduled to burn a house on Markham Road this past Saturday that also did not meet minimum housing code.

According to Davis, however, the Rippy Road mobile home is not suitable for burning by the fire department.