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Hearing authority affirms rehab order, 30-day inspection after fire and zoning concerns at East 20 Ninth Street
Summary
The Muncie Unsafe Building Hearing Authority affirmed a rehabilitation order for 11001 East 20 Ninth Street and ordered an inspection with the building commissioner and fire department after staff and the fire lieutenant reported multiple fire-code and zoning violations related to vehicle storage and blocked egress.
MUNCIE, Ind. — The Muncie Unsafe Building Hearing Authority on Sept. 11 affirmed a rehabilitation order for 11001 East 20 Ninth Street and continued the matter 30 days while ordering a joint inspection by the building commissioner and the fire department.
The order followed staff reports and testimony from a fire lieutenant that the property exhibited multiple fire-code violations and apparent use inconsistent with its zone. The authority’s action requires the owner to present a compliance plan at the next hearing and allows city inspectors to return and verify progress.
The hearing opened with staff reading the unsafe-building file and the case being called. Heather McKibben, who identified herself for the record as having mailing address 5723 North State Road 67, told the authority the site is used as a garage and sales office and that she had contracted with a scrapyard to remove inoperable cars. “He can only do 15 cars at a time,” McKibben said, describing staged removals and saying the sign that had fallen was the subject of an insurance claim.
Fire Lieutenant Andy Nick testified there were “19 fire code violations,” including blocked egress, barrels of oil outside, tires stacked against the building, exposed electrical wiring and restricted access to electrical panels. “Egress throughout. Everything is completely covered. There’s no egress routes,” Nick said.
Staff cited zoning concerns in their report, noting the property appeared to function as a salvage yard in a business zone. A city staff member read the city code definition of a salvage yard into the record, which includes “automobile not in running condition” concentrated for storage or processing.
Authority members discussed steps to bring the structure into compliance and instructed staff to have the building commissioner and the fire department inspect together. The authority then voted to affirm the rehabilitation order, continue the case for 30 days and order that inspection; the motion carried by voice vote.
The authority’s action directs the owner to clear inoperable vehicles and tires, address the fire-code items called out in the fire report, and present a timeline for compliance at the next hearing. McKibben was given the next hearing date and told to sign the hearing sheet to receive written notice.
If civil penalties or additional orders are assessed after follow-up inspections, those will be mailed to the owner and, per the hearing notice, may be appealed to the Delaware County Circuit Court within 10 days of the action notice.
