506 Fernway Street

35.99989, -78.904179

506
Durham
NC
Year built
1900-1920
Year demolished
2013
Architectural style
Construction type
Neighborhood
Use
Building Type
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506Fernway_053011.jpeg

506 Fernway, 05.30.11 (G. Kueber)

A great little house with nice detailing / front porch that has been in a state of ongoing deterioration and, in recent years, abandonment since purchased by the BDV II, LLC (Blue Devil Ventures - developers of West Village) in March of 2004. Undoubtedly the parcel was planed for parking or development, but it's a shame to see this house rot away when I somewhat doubt that whatever incarnation of BDV is currently in control of this parcel is going to be expanding anytime soon.

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Demolished 2013.

03.31.14 (G. Kueber)

Comments

so what is the official Durham policy on neglect, leaving a house boarded up for "too long"?

Do I remember correctly that there is a max limit how long a house can stay boarded up without any sign of restoring/bringing to life?

I thought it was something like 90 days for residential,and 2 years for commercial.

would love to know what the official policy is, and what the fines are, when they come into play, how often, when they step up etc?

not just for this particular house but in general.

thanks

@Anon

Current City ordinances say that a house can only remain boarded for six months, and so this house is probably in violation. But there are many houses in violation throughout the city. They are frequently owned by people who intend to "do something" with them "sometime," but for a variety of reasons aren't ready to to anything right now. Owners of these properties run the gamut from Mom and Pop investors to larger developers like Blue Devil Ventures. But they also include non-profits like Habitat for Humanity, which purchased 1103 Taylor St. a year or so ago and boarded it up, and government entities like the Durham Housing Authority which has had 1010 Worth St. boarded up for years.

Neighborhood Improvement Services is now studying this problem and attempting to develop new mechanisms for getting property owners to follow the law. It is not necessarily an easy problem to deal with. I'm the chair of an ad-hoc Inter-Neighborhood Council committee, attempting to find solutions as well.

If you have ideas, or if you know of cities that have successfully dealt with this problem, we'd love to hear about them.

I noticed yesterday that the two houses on Fernway St. (506 and 508) are scheduled to be demolished on October 21st and 22nd. They've put yellow tape around them and written demo dates in orange spray paint. Last year they cleared most of the vegetation in the lots behind them (leaving only the trees) and planted grass seed. I also haven't seen any cars parking in the Durham Public Schools lot on the corner of Morris and Fernway for some time. Perhaps this is all in anticipation of the owner's re-purpose of the block.

These 2 houses were demolished a few days ago.

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