What: the city's response to demolition by neglect after the loss of the Emmett Abbott Memorial Chapel at 52 Cooper Street, and policy recommendations from preservation groups.
Where it stands: October 22 committee heard a staff plan (one-to-three-month and six-to-nine-month actions) and a joint presentation from Historic Charleston Foundation, the Preservation Society of Charleston and Save Our Structures Charleston. No vote.
Next: reconvene the demolition by neglect task force; legal review of the building official's authority and liability; funding ideas including a Cooper River Bridge TIF revolving fund.
Staff proposed procedures, a scored at-risk building database, better notification, a placard posting period with salvage plan, nuisance classification after six months, more citations for willful neglect and possible use of fines for stabilization.
Preservation groups recommended limiting emergency demolition authority, adding BAR standards for the building official, adding parcels to the Old City District, a deconstruction and salvage ordinance, and heirs-property title clearing.
The mayor said staff acted properly on a licensed engineer's imminent-collapse report.