Final approval of an ordinance dealing with unsafe and blighted properties will be considered by the Bristol City Council during its Tuesday night meeting.
The ordinance was approved on first reading two weeks ago by the council. It authorizes the city council to require property owners to remove, repair or secure any building, wall or other structure that might endanger the public’s health and safety.
Neither the ordinance nor the council mentioned the problems the city has had with the burned-out former campus of Virginia Intermont College, a 37-acre property in downtown Bristol. But the vote comes weeks after the owner, U.S. Magis International, paid off $605,000 in current and delinquent property taxes. That payment was made July 11, the day after City Manager Randy Eads petitioned the circuit court to turn the property over to the city so it could be sold. The city then dropped the petition.
The ordinance also states that the city can impose a fine up to $1,000 per day if property owners fail to comply.
The property has been vacant since May 2014, when the 130-year-old college closed because of financial troubles, declining enrollment and the loss of accreditation.
Two years later, it was purchased by Magis, a company based in China, and the owner announced a plan to establish a business college on the property, but it never happened.
Over the years, the property has steadily deteriorated, and it has become a haven for the homeless and a target of vandals. Over the last 18 months, there have been three fires on the campus, including a massive blaze in December that destroyed the four oldest buildings.
For years, city leaders have worried about the state of the buildings and the danger they could pose. Attempts to get the owner to clean up and secure the property were unsuccessful.
Following the fire, the city hired crews to demolish the standing outer walls of the buildings that burned, mowed the grass and secured the site with fencing and locks.
During the last session of the General Assembly, the city pushed for and received approval of legislation that would allow it to petition the court to turn the property over to the city. It also would have allowed the city to choose a buyer rather than having to sell it to the highest bidder at auction.
John Kieffer, a Bristol-based lawyer who represents Magis, said in late July that Magis would legally challenge any attempt by the city to gain control of the property through the new law, which Kieffer said is unconstitutional. He added that the owner still plans to open a business college on part of the property.
On July 16, Eads sent a letter informing Magis’ owner, Tao Tao Zhang, and Kieffer that they have 30 days to respond in writing with a blight abatement plan that deals with the issues at the site within a reasonable time frame. Attached to the letter were two letters from the city’s real estate assessor saying the property is derelict and blighted.
The letter lists 25 issues that must be dealt with, from possible mold and mildew, to broken windows, inoperable doors, leaky roofs and gutters that don’t work, to overgrown buildings infested with rodents.
If Magis fails to respond, the city will approve an ordinance officially declaring the property blighted, the letter states.
Eads said Monday he has not heard anything from Magis or its lawyer. If they don’t respond with a plan by Aug. 18, he said he will file a lawsuit asking the court to compel the property owner to do something with the property.
The city manager has said that the city is making an effort to deal with all blighted properties and the ordinance will apply to all of them. But he did say that the former college site is the city’s biggest blighted challenge.
The ordinance takes effect 30 days after it is approved.
The council meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 300 Lee St. Here’s the agenda.
