CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – If you’ve driven through downtown Charleston, you’ve probably noticed large, red signs, with white bars across them on many buildings, but do you know what they stand for?
City officials say they’re called Unsafe, Vacant Building Placards, and their purpose is to help point out unsafe or vacant buildings to responding firefighters, but some property owners say they represent a blocked path forward for the future of the city.
“It will always be a problem anytime we have a vacant structure that is not properly maintained,” City of Charleston Chief Fire Marshal Mike Julazadeh said. “The placard system is intended to be a warning system for firefighters.”
At the moment there are three different types of Vacant, Unsafe Building Placards being used by the city to help warn firefighters before responding to a blaze. Each sign represents unique hazards responding crews may face in fighting the fire, like structural or interior hazards that help firefighters decide how best to proceed. Oftentimes this means firefighting is done strictly on a defensive or exterior basis.
“We had one in a building that was placarded a few weeks ago and the warning system worked and notified our crews when they arrived, they had the placard to warn them of the situation,” Julazadeh said. “We had information in the dispatch system and then that gave the incident commander enough information to make a decision. This really needs to be a defensive or exterior operation and not risk sending firefighters into the building. That’s why we urge property owners to secure their buildings, the most recent fire events we’ve seen in these placarded buildings have been related to the homeless who have tried to seek shelter in the building often related to either cooking or heating or candles. The most recent activity we saw was a direct relation to somebody trying to stay warm inside the building. So, the most effective preventative measure here for that is maintaining security. So, owners need to take that progressive action to make sure they’re monitoring these unsafe, vacant structures.”
Currently, there are nearly 200 such vacant structures spread throughout the city of Charleston and surrounding overlay zones which cover additional areas outside the city limits like Savannah Highway.
“We have a lot of historic buildings in the city, and surrounding areas, that have been preserved over time because people have fought to make sure they’re preserved and preserved properly. So it’s important to take a very thorough approach to how this a building could fall into such disrepair and then when somebody goes to repair it – that they’re working with the city to understand requirements of the building department of the Board of Architecture review and make sure we maintaining that historical thread in the city,” Julazadeh said. “So, I think on our side of this, the only thing we can really do as firefighters is proactively trying to secure these buildings. So, we work with our livability department to make sure they’re aware of these situations and they go out and try to secure the buildings if they’re unable to get ownership to secure them. So that’s really where we fit into this. Ideally, we’d love to see them renovated. But that’s really a bigger issue.”
Dr. James Wisner owns one of the unsafe, vacant, placarded buildings along Hwy 17 near his dental practice. For Wisner, the sign symbolizes one thing – frustration.
“This is not demolition by neglect, I’m trying to do everything I can, the right way,” Wisner said. “I’m not able to use the property because of safety issues and because of structural issues, but I’m also not able to renovate because the city will not allow me to remove the brick which is mandatory to bring this up to current code standards. Then there’s that sign on front. It’s frustrating.”
Once marked, erasing the X isn’t easy and is expensive.
“Since purchasing the property and paying for renovation, trying to gut it once we got down to the actual bones and the foundation. We determined that the property was not safe,” Wisner said. “So I’ve had two separate structural engineers on two different occasions come in actually walk through and issue reports that say that this property is not safe and it cannot be brought up to current standards… all I’m doing is trying to create something that’s usable and safe for the people of West Ashley and you know right now there is no path forward.”
With all signs pointing towards demolition, Wisner was blocked again.
“We’re being blocked by the city because basically, their argument is anything can be renovated. It’s just a matter of how much money you have and, you know, I’m a small business owner. I’m a West Ashley local. I’ve lived here for 40 years and own four properties in the area. And you know, I’m just trying to improve the community,” Wisner said. “I’m trying to pursue everything through the proper channels, you know, there are several people who basically will oppose anything that I try and do and unfortunately the way the politics are… and the way that the system runs those people have a voice that you know, essentially unilaterally gives them the right to control what happens in this area.”
The City of Charleston’s Office of Livability and Tourism argues most marked buildings, while vacant and unsafe, are still historic, and must be preserved according to a strict code set by the Board of Architectural Review.
“It’s all to protect the integrity of these homes,” Director of Livability and Tourism Dan Riccio said. “So unfortunately, you have unsavory characters that want to bypass that system of preservation, take matters in their own hands so they can save money and rebuild something brand new rather than rehabilitate it – rehabilitate and restructure this historic property.”
But Wisner says he’s tried that too.
“I’ve gone as far as offering to remove the brick – preserve the brick demo the rest of the property and then rebuild so that it’s safe and meets current safety standards and then rebuild the property in the exact same footprint and the exact same look as it is but I’ve also been denied that right,” Wisner said. “So, I’m at a standstill right now, you know at this point what we have is a building that I can’t use, I can’t renovate because what the city is advising me to do cannot be done and I can’t destroy it and start over… I need a path forward and it’s just not being provided by the city.”
With nothing left to do with the property, Wisner has elected to protest. Using pink flamingos.
“The flamingos are just a reminder that you know, I’m here. I haven’t abandoned the property. I’m not neglecting the property. It’s basically just a way for me to let everybody know that you know, I’m here,” Wisner said. “I’m willing to look for a common path forward. Unfortunately, you know with everything that I’ve attempted to do. I’ve gotten no feedback no help and you know, no path forward from the city at all.”
But the city says that path comes at a price.
“Individuals who come in for profit and purchase properties and they’re historic… they know that it’s very costly to rehabilitate,” Riccio said. “That’s why there are steps in place and processes in place to preserve that house rather than demolish the house and others like it. So, yes, there’s many guidelines that these homeowners need to follow and it’s important that that we help them with the challenge, but we can’t do it for them. We can however give them some avenues to help them along the way.”
One such avenue, Riccio says, is a new board to help prevent future unsafe vacant building sign standstills in the future.
“We’ve now established a livability review board. And it gives owners of these properties the opportunity to meet with the city staff, meet with our board members because the overall challenge for property owners is there’s property issues. There are impoverished property owners that just don’t have the means necessary to rehabilitate these properties and the properties are historic. So, we also must respect and make sure the Integrity of the historic fabric is taken care of so with that said, the board members consist of civilians three civilians one’s a probate attorney one other board member is a contractor who’s experience with preservation and construction. We also have neighborhood representatives and from our city staff. We have people that can guide them through the process, the building inspection, the office of the BAR our livability, Our Community Development Office to offer resources to these people,” Riccio said. “So, the board’s not punitive. It’s people volunteering for this board. It’s in lieu of any kind of citations being issued, and they sit down with us and we basically educate them and put them in the right direction, give them information on resources that can help them rehab these properties much quicker.”
Riccio says when he joined the office of livability in 2010 the city was monitoring nearly 600 vacant, unsafe buildings – with enforcement efforts and continuous monitoring he says they’ve dropped that number to where it sits today, close to 200.
“We are chipping away at it slowly but surely,” Riccio said. “It’s kind of like playing whack-a-mole unfortunately… vagrants and unlikely people like to get into these houses, especially when it’s cold and set fires which is not a good thing. So, it’s a constant challenge. It’s constant maintaining, monitoring, and ensuring that these properties are at least at the minimum standards for safety to the community.”
Riccio says they can’t comment directly on why Wisner’s property is at a standstill, saying he’s, “in compliance up to this point.”
“Essentially what they’re doing by not allowing property owners to do what they need to do to make these properties useful is destroying property value and destroying, you know, the property rights of these owners,” Wisner said. “Every single person and every single property that surrounds this ‘unsafe, vacant structure’ has given me their support to do what needs to be done to improve the property, but the city doesn’t care. They just want to use me as an example of you know, how they’re going to handle things in this area.”
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