Town of Chatham to tackle eyesores

CHATHAM - The town of Chatham plans to take steps to address its problem with crumbling buildings and other eyesores that officials say blight their community.

Mayor George Haley aims to appoint a committee to tackle the issue after residents complained about derelict property, decaying structures and neglected yards overgrown with weeds during a Chatham Town Council meeting last week. Two of the most conspicuous examples are the former Kroger building and the old streetcar - and former diner - at the corner of Main and Depot streets.

Haley hopes the town and the owners can work together to tidy up their properties.

"We're not trying to give anyone a hard time," Haley said during an interview Thursday. "We're just trying to beautify the town."

Haley said he hopes the committee will include town councilmen, members of Chatham First, the Chatham Planning Commission and concerned citizens-at-large. One of the first orders of business will be to look at the town's ordinance.

Town Councilman Jim McDole, chairman of the town's Ordinance Committee, said the ordinance regarding derelict properties requires the town to notify the owner before it takes the property or cleans it up. Unmowed lawns at lived-in residences are also a problem. As for overgrown grass and weeds at residences, the town can give notification to the property owner saying the town will mow it and bill the owner if he or she doesn't cut it.

Derelict properties can encourage drug dealers and pose a danger to children, McDole said.

Chatham resident Ben Davenport, chairman of Davenport Energy and First Piedmont, said he would like to see Virginia Tech's Community Design Assistance Center draw up a master plan for town beautification and have the town establish guidelines for property owners. Properties with weeds, broken windows, and other blemishes adversely affect property values, and there are a lot of homes for sale in the town, Davenport said

"People buy with their eyes," he said.

At the Chatham Town Council meeting last week, Davenport showed pictures of eyesores he has observed throughout the town of Chatham. Other blighted areas include houses north of Chatham immediately outside the town limits that are covered with kudzu, Davenport said. Those properties appear to be in town, but they're located in Pittsylvania County. A traveler passing through town from the north doesn't know they're not town property, McDole said.

Haley said he hopes the town and county can jointly come up with ways to tidy up that area. Other areas he would like to see spruced up are the town's sidewalks - which are not all owned by the town - and the entrance signs at both ends of Chatham.

"We've got the makings of a quaint little town," Davenport said. "It is a quaint little town. It needs to be taken care of."