Town to property owner: Tear down that wall

A war of words and wills is under way in downtown Cornelius.

Property owner Ralph Harlan, the owner of a  commercial building at 21314 Catawba, says the town is taking a hard-line approach to his efforts to restore the brick building to the way it was when Cornelius was becoming a bustling mill town.

Harlan, who is doing the restoration work himself, has erected a plywood scaffold to shield pedestrians and cars from debris.

That’s where the battle of words and wills begins. The scaffold is turning into an eyesore, according to town officials.

Government officials required the scaffolding, Harlan says.

The project is taking too long, the town asserts.
It takes time to repair a building that was built in 1904, Harlan explains.

In a letter to Harlan, Town Manager Anthony Roberts said the “Town Board is concerned with the length of time the work has taken and the time that the Town sidewalk and parking have been impacted.”
Harlan notes that the enormous mill that was at the center of Cornelius for so many years — the current location of the Food Lion and the live-work units just to the west of Town Hall — took many more months to tear down and was considerably more unappealing.

“I guess from my perspective, when I started to do this work the town stipulated in order for me to do the work I had to keep the sidewalk open except for short periods of time, I also had to protect the pedestrians on the sidewalk…if a section of the brick wall collapsed it would have taken the stress.

“I complied with all of that, I have built a structure that is strong and safe and I have a valid permit,” Harlan said.

In the letter to Harlan Nov. 7, Robert said the Town Board has “directed Staff…to take all necessary steps to remove the current barrier from the public right-of-way.”

The letter was affixed to the front of the Harlan building, where he lived with his family on the upper floor before moving to a farm in Lincoln County.

Harlan, who says he is on track to finish the project, says the town is turning a construction issue into a beautification issue.” It is not legal for the town, the county or the state to pressure me for a completion date,” Harlan says. “I am in the process of trying to complete the work on a historical building in a safe manner. The town can’t agree to that.”

The issue gets at private property rights and the role of government. On the one hand, Harlan is the master of his 5,354 square foot domain, which is assessed at $320,400 by Mecklenburg County. (Harlan has filed an appeal of the 2011 assessment, according to tax records.)

“No one has come to me and said let’s talk,” Harlan says, explaining that the government should not in any way restrict access by an owner to his property.

The town, meanwhile, says it is also concerned about the appearance of Harlan’s project as well as its impact on nearby merchants who must present a game face to shoppers.

In a letter to the Town, Harlan wrote: “What part of the construction that has taken place in Cornelius since the disassembly of the Foamex plant across the street from the building I am repairing has been judged on an ‘aesthetic basis?’” Roberts said the Town is ready to send Harlan another letter demanding that the scaffolding be removed and by the end of January — or the town will get the work done and bill him for the cost.

A lien could be placed on the building Roberts said. Next steps could include condemnation.