Kinston council backs demolition concept as part of corridor cleanup effort
The Kinston City Council on Tuesday approved the concept for a corridor aesthetic improvement and demolition effort aimed at addressing unsafe and unsightly properties in the city and along key corridors.
The demolition discussion came during Interim City Manager Ralph Clark’s report near the end of the meeting. He described the proposal as a two-part effort. One piece would be a joint city-county project focused on corridor cleanup, while the second would be a city-led companion effort targeting unsafe residential structures within Kinston.
“Our goal is to clean up the corridors as far as unsafe and unsightly things,” Clark said. He added that the work would involve not only buildings, but also some yard cleanup and other visible blight concerns.
The city’s focus would include dilapidated houses, but emphasized the legal standard involves unsafe structures.
“I say dilapidated, I mean unsafe because I have to be careful with that word because condemnation typically talks about unsafe structures.”
The opportunity is significant because the city has identified available money in the current budget cycle to begin moving the project ahead. But he also cautioned that time is short.
“June 30th is kind of a deadline. I’ve identified some funds that are in the current budget that are available to do this.”
During the discussion, Councilman Antonio Hardy said he supported demolition but wanted the city to pair cleanup with redevelopment.
“We got the funding now to start,” Hardy said. “My thing is let’s do it. And see some return from it, and let’s stop kicking the can down the road.”
Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Solomon said the city should move forward while also continuing to plan for what comes next.
“I think we should go ahead and approve this demolition plan,” Solomon said, adding that the city also needs to think about maintenance, clustering city-owned properties and making areas more attractive for future development.
Clark agreed that demolition is only the first phase.
“We get this started and we focus on the East Kinston area as far as those early demos and then we come back with a plan of saying, OK, how many properties do we own, and where are they, and where can you cluster to get enough for buildable lots,” he said.
The council first approved a memorandum of understanding with Lenoir County related to the joint effort, then separately approved the concept for the corridor aesthetic improvement project.
The issue also drew attention during public comment. Resident Hinder Moore told council they supported the direction city and county leaders were taking and said, “We know that all of all of you are aiming high during the demolition process.”
