Two Homes In RiversideTo Be Demolished By Southampton Town

Having been deemed a threat to public health and safety, two dilapidated buildings in Riverside will be demolished by Southampton Town at the expense of the property owner.

The Southampton Town Board approved both demolitions last week at the request of Assistant Southampton Town Attorney Richard Harris, who has been negotiating with the primary owner of both properties, Lyle Pike, for several months. Neither of the properties, located at 40 Pine Street and 433 Riverleigh Avenue, both in Riverside, currently has tenants.

According to Mr. Harris, after approximately a year of discussions with Mr. Pike, last week he filed an incomplete demolition permit for one of the buildings, and he has been talking with the town about demolishing the second one. With last week’s Town Board approval, however, the town now has the right to hire a contractor to remove both buildings in the immediate future. The cost of the demolition of each house will be added to the tax bill for the property until Mr. Pike has covered the expense.

“Generally we try to get compliance from the property owners in order to have the building taken down if necessary,” Mr. Harris said. “If it can’t be accomplished, then we will step in to do it.”

The building on Pine Street is a manufactured home, one of three mobile homes on the property. According to Mr. Harris, who was referring to a report from the Southampton Town Fire Marshal’s office, the mobile home has no foundation or tie-downs, meaning there is nothing securing it to the ground. It suffers from a lack of repairs and maintenance, and parts of the floor are actually made of cardboard. There is also no heat, hot water or sanitary system, and in the past electricity was provided through an extension chord plugged into a neighboring unit.

Mr. Pike had started eviction proceedings against a woman living in the mobile home, but never followed through, and the woman left voluntarily in November, according to Mr. Harris. As soon as she was gone, the fire marshal’s office boarded up the property and labeled it a hazard.

The single-family home on Riverleigh Avenue, which has been unoccupied for years, was severely damaged in a fire in the 1990s, before Mr. Pike purchased the building. According to Mr. Harris, there have been no repairs or renovations since the house was secured after the fire.

“Numerous inspections have taken place at this property over the past 20 years to assess the constantly deteriorating and unmaintained condition of this building,” Mr. Harris said. “There have been numerous violations issued in town code, and to date there has been no compliance and the building has continued to deteriorate and fall into itself.”

Problems with the house include a collapsed roof, a floor that is mostly collapsed and, where it has not collapsed, cannot support a person’s weight. The building is not secured and people often enter the property, Mr. Harris said.

He said that Mr. Pike submitted a demolition permit for the property on Riverleigh Avenue, but that it is incomplete and that Mr. Pike has requested one month’s time to finish the application.

When reached this week, Mr. Pike said he is working with the town to remove both buildings and maintained that they are not dilapidated. Rather, people have damaged the buildings by breaking into them, he said.

Mr. Pike added that he hopes to be able to rebuild on both parcels under zoning for Riverside that was approved in December by Southampton Town.

“What I am trying to do is work with the town to see what we can do with the development district,” he said. “I want to redevelop over there and make it a lot nicer.”