Wellstone residents hope new town rules will mean end of eyesore

When Dan McCaw and his wife moved into Wellstone in Bluffton about four years ago, the couple were excited about starting a family in the budding, quiet neighborhood with narrow streets lined by rows of town houses painted in soft pastel colors.

Like others in the community, McCaw said he purchased his home in 2006 at an affordable price and watched the development quickly become a haven for young singles, families and retirees on a budget.

But when the economy took a nose dive, work stopped on a half-built unit of three town houses -- at 33, 35 and 39 Plumgrass St. -- a block away from the McCaws. For two years, the vacant, deteriorating town houses have drawn vagrants and drug-users, McCaw said. Bluffton building officials condemned them last year, but that didn't solve the problem.

"The fact that there are vagrants in and out of there is what bothers me, because I've got a family here," said McCaw, 32. "It's just a shame that it's there."

Last week, the Bluffton Town Council took another step to address residents' concerns, changing building codes to allow the town to repair or demolish unfinished or decaying buildings owners can't or won't fix.

The town's building safety inspector, Frank Hodge, said the empty Wellstone unit is his first priority.

"It's in a neighborhood with children, and it needs to be corrected," Hodge said. "There are people squatting in the building and causing problems. The property would be worth more without the structure."

Police Chief David McAllister said officers check the site twice a day. They found a man sleeping in the empty town houses during a cold snap in January and discovered a group of teens partying there, one with marijuana, he said.

"We haven't had any complaints from residents about trespassers walking through," he said. "If there's someone suspicious walking around, we want to know about it."

Hodge said no one had claimed ownership of the unoccupied building, so the town has no one to charge for the costs of boarding it up or tearing it down. But the town now can do the work, then seek reimbursement from the owner or place a lien on the property, he said. The neighborhood's developers, Georgia-based Wellstone Communities, which was affiliated with Cornerstone Ministries Investments, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008.

In October, Regions Bank, based in Alabama, bought the abandoned town houses, several other undeveloped Wellstone lots and the surrounding common areas for $1.2 million in a foreclosure sale, according to a deed filed in Beaufort County.

Town attorney Terry Finger said he sent a letter to the bank's lawyer, David Wheeler of Moore & Van Allen in November, expressing concerns about the building's safety.

Finger didn't get a reply and does not know the bank's plans for the building, he said. Wheeler and officials at a Regions Bank corporate office in Alabama could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Hodge said the town would send another letter to Regions asking for the town houses to be brought up to code. If town inspectors determine the structures should be demolished, the owners could appeal the decision to the county's Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, he said.

Wellstone resident Suzanne Chiofolo, 35, hopes the town's efforts succeed.

"I've seen people go in and out of there," she said. "It's an eyesore, and it decreases my property values, but so do all the foreclosures. I would love to see it go. I care about the neighborhood -- this is my home."