In March 2022, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of issues with a property on Highridge Street in Asheboro. The residence on the property burned in July of 2018. Neighbors reported illegal activity and unsanitary conditions as people appeared to be residing in the outbuilding and on other areas of the property. The property had also accumulated excessive amounts of trash, tires and other discarded items.
Records indicate that the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office responded to 22 calls specifically at that address and to 116 calls on that road; 41 directly related to the address since July of 2018.
Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jordan, Patrol Division, assumed point on the investigation in an effort to find a resolution for the neighbors. Administrative staff subsequently contacted other county departments to determine what involvements and complaints they had relative to the property for the investigation. Randolph County Planning and Zoning, Emergency Services, Building Inspections, Public Health, Environmental Health, Sheriff’s Office administrative staff, County Legal and the County Attorney collaborated with Sgt. Jordan to develop a strategy to mitigate the issues multiple county departments were incurring relative to the property.
Environmental Health reported that they had monitored the property from November 2019 – January 2020 due to complaints during 2019. That department had previously sent a letter and posted the property but were unsure if anyone received the notices, as they received no response. They had not located anyone on the property during their visits. They returned to the site on March 30, 2022, to re-open their investigation after receiving notification from the Sheriff’s Office.
In May 2020, the County’s Associate Attorney sent the property owner a notice of violation of the Randolph County Unified Development Ordinance – Illegal Use of Accessory Building as a Residence on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Department. Three separate notices of violation had been sent between Dec. 12, 2019, and Feb. 21, 2020, for the failure to comply with the ordinance on other issues.
On behalf of Planning and Zoning, Attorney Ben Morgan filed legal proceedings against the property owner in July of 2020. Morgan stated that his office was able to have an Order directing the owner to clean up the property entered in September of 2020. Unfortunately, during her court appearances in August of 2020, she was hospitalized and ultimately passed away on November 11, 2021. She was listed as the sole owner of the property.
Sgt. Jordan ultimately located heirs to the property and initiated their negotiations with the County Attorney regarding the property.
Following an evaluation of the recent report and past history, Randolph County Public Works Director was able to secure a contractor at the end of May to clean up the property and remove waste, old tires, porches, etc.
In early June, Randolph County Building Inspectors went out to overview the property and ultimately condemned the burned structure. This matter is still under review and is currently an ongoing investigation for all involved county departments.
This situation is a prime example of the Sheriff’s Office working closely with other county departments to resolve issues that negatively impact our citizens and our quality of life. The process has been a difficult task for multiple county departments and the issue has been a nuisance to the residents of the neighborhood. Although the problem has been long outstanding, a final resolution is imminent; it is demonstrative of the county motto: Serving with Heart from the Heart of NC.
Original source can be found here.
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