The Eldred Township supervisors held a hearing Wednesday during their regular meeting to determine if a house destroyed by fire on Fiddletown Road should be declared a dangerous property and ordered to be torn down or if it can be reasonably repaired.

The house in question is at 104 Fiddletown Road in Kunkletown and was destroyed by fire in February 2019. The house and its neighboring buildings are owned by Yaple Properties LLC, whose member is Amy Yaple. She purchased the property and the former W.W. Smiley Meats and Groceries store in 2007 for $299,900 and opened Amy’s Country Store.

Although notified of the hearing, Yaple did not attend. Timothy Denehan from ESSA Bank and Trust in Stroudsburg attended the hearing on behalf of the bank.

“If it is determined to be a dangerous building, then there are consequences to the interested parties,” said Michael Gaul, the solicitor for Eldred Township. “The hearing gives those parties an opportunity to contest whether or not the building is dangerous under the ordinance.”

Gaul called on Shawn McGlynn, the township’s zoning and codes officer, to testify about the property. McGlynn said the township put a placard on the building after the fire marking it as unsafe under the building code. He said the property owner didn’t take any action to comply with the building code requirements, which would be to secure the building.

“Not only did they not secure the building, the property owner did not take any measures to protect the building from the weather following the fire,” McGlynn said. “The roof itself was pretty much entirely destroyed and consumed. Second floor system was damaged significantly as well. The structure sustained significant damage from the fire and then continued to have damage due to neglect and water infiltrations.”

Because the building isn’t secured, McGlynn considers it to be an attractive nuisance. He’s concerned that people could get hurt if they walk inside. He said he was afraid to walk into the building when he was there.

McGlynn said if the property owner thought there was intrinsic value in the property, then they should have protected it.

“A stone or masonry structure of the type of that age is a rare building and therefore has some value. But the property owner needed to protect it once the roof system was destroyed, because water infiltration into that wall system with a freeze-thaw cycle will blow that wall apart,” he said.

“The likelihood that even the valuable stone perimeter could be saved and reused is highly unlikely, because it most likely would have suffered damage initially and then by neglect in terms of protecting that wall system.”

McGlynn continued, “This is a building that could have had some real value if someone had acted quickly, but at this point in all likelihood it would be a real waste of an investment.”

His recommendation is that the building be demolished and the site restored.

Several pictures taken in March 2021 were submitted as evidence of the deterioration of the building. The sky can be seen through the windows where a roof should be.

Jeff Snyder, the zoning administrator for the township, said he took the pictures, but he would not go in the building because it did not look safe to enter. He agreed with McGlynn that the building is unsafe and should be removed.

McGlynn added that he thinks this building is a nonconforming structure, because it does not meet the setback allowances. It was built before the ordinance. The house sits too close to the road.

Reconstruction of a nonconforming building is prohibited under the ordinance if it is destroyed, he said.

Gaul asked if anyone else had anything to add and asked Denehan if wanted to make a comment. Denehan said no.

Ann Velopolcek, the township’s secretary, asked to speak, and said that residents have called the office many times complaining about the smell coming from the building, as well as the safety issues and unsightliness.

Gaul concluded the hearing. It will be continued at the supervisors’ next meeting on April 21 when the supervisors are likely to make a decision on the matter.