Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has four months to bring its house at 606 W. Nash St. into compliance with city code if it wants to keep its city special-use permit.
Meanwhile, the heat is off at the house until a natural gas leak discovered Tuesday by city inspectors can be located and repaired. Most of the Barton College fraternity members have gone home for Christmas break, but six are still there because they have jobs in town.
The Wilson Board of Adjustment continued Tuesday its hearing on the matter until its April 18, 2006, meeting.
It had begun a review of the permit, which was granted in 1980, when neighbor Nathan Hawkins complained at its October meeting about noise, littering and vandalism caused by the fraternity's party guests. His basement door had been broken following a September party at the house.
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When code compliance officer Kevin Medeiros re-inspected the house Tuesday, though, he found most of the violations cited during an October inspection had not been corrected. He also found additional violations, such as junk piled around the Dumpster and water damage in several rooms.
He also found three gas leaks, two of which were fixed when the city replaced the meter. The other one is inside the house, and the fraternity will have to pay to have it taken care of. Then the system must be checked and certified to be safe before the city will turn the gas back on.
Some of the needed repairs will be costly. A first floor corner wall is collapsing on the inside due to either water or termite damage. There are holes in the walls throughout the house, and the kitchen and bathrooms need outlets with ground fault circuit interrupters.
Most of the bedrooms do not meet city standards for living space. Nor do they meet the city's definition of habitable space in terms of windows and light.
The guys better not be doing any jaywalking or spitting on the sidewalks, either. Of course, the real problem is that the house was allowed to deteriorate to that extent. One supposes they were too busy annoying the neighbors to be bothered with maintenance.
