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Judge rules for Sylva; Ensley’s dilapidated trailers to be removed
By Justin Goble
A Superior Court decision last week has cleared the way for Sylva officials to remove dilapidated trailers from Kirby Ensley’s Virna Lisa trailer park.
During a hearing held last Thursday (July 19), Judge Marlene Hyatt signed an order giving the town of Sylva authority to remove trailers and a failing septic system if Ensley fails to do so within 30 days.
If town officials are forced to take action, the order allows them to turn the cost of removal and demolition into a lien against Ensley’s property.
Town attorney Eric Ridenour said during Thursday’s hearing that he thought the town had the right to force Ensley to remove the structures. However, past cases had shown town officials could be at fault if they tried to remove property without considering all legal options.
That is why Ridenour said he was seeking the court’s approval.
“I was looking at some case law, and there was some concern that if the town did something wrong it could be financially liable for taking his (Ensley’s) property,” Ridenour said. “We’re just asking the court to abate that.”
Ensley was not present at the hearing.
Sylva officials in November found that Ensley’s property had dilapidated and unsafe trailers, some of which were occupied. Eleven of the 12 trailers were found to be in such bad shape that Sylva Planning Director Jim Aust ordered them torn down and removed. Only one of the structures was suitable for rehabilitation, Aust said.
Faulty electrical wiring, damaged sewer systems, rotting wood, mold and infestation problems, lack of hot water and heating systems, and inadequate entrances and alarms are just a few of 31 minimum housing standards the property violated, Aust said in November. He began investigating the park after receiving information from some of Ensley’s tenants saying that their homes were unsafe.
Four tenants were renting in the park at the time of Aust’s investigation, though Ensley had been cited for operating substandard housing in 2000 and ordered to clean up the property.
Ensley appealed the decision before the town board in January, but on Feb. 1 board members upheld Aust’s order that the trailers be removed.
Ensley was given 30 days to file a court appeal. His filing came May 25.
The handwritten request, titled “Answer,” asks for an injunction and states that Ensley has not found an attorney to represent him but wishes the court to end all claims by the town of Sylva against his property. After several questions, which he addresses to “Judges Dennis Winner and or Marlene Hyatt and or whoever,” Ensley wrote that he doesn’t think the town has a right to force him to act since it’s his property.
“This is what I use to do the Jesus Bride Ministry. This is what I use for income to do the ministry,” the document states. “This is part of my livelihood that God provides for me to render to God and to Caesar as in Matthew 22:20-21 to (pay) my bills and live on.”
Ensley also claims in the letter that he has people who want to take over the park, remodel the homes and rent them out; he says he has only been using them for storage and continues to do so.
In response to Aust’s determination, which gave Ensley no more than 30 days to clear out refuse and overgrowth, eliminate septic tank problems and clear out the areas of the park which were providing grounds for infestation of bugs and rodents, Ensley says he has done his best to “comply with all the requests in the days not weeks in the winter time and bad snowy/rainy weather, and trying to get someone to help concerning the mobile homes I have worked on as told by the town of Sylva.”
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