by Don Moniak

June 15, 2023.

According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, an “attractive nuisance’’ is a legal doctrine involving “a dangerous condition on a landowner’s property that may particularly attract children onto the land and pose a risk to their safety.”

As reported in Fencing After The Fact, in the earlier years of the Citizen’s Park Splash Pad there was an unfenced grate in the grassy area just 12-15 feet from the pad. A toddler wandered onto the grate in the middle of a scorching July day and suffered severe burns. The South Carolina Municipal Insurance and Risk Fund (SCMIRF), the City of Aiken’s “insurance company,” settled a subsequent lawsuit with characterized the grate as an attractive nuisance for $170,000.

Two of the attractive nuisances that exist in Aiken’s Parkway District include one that is privately owned, and one owned by the city. The private property is downtown and has “Unsafe Building” signs. The City property, which is in a residential area, has none.

‘The Aiken New Yorker.

The Aiken New Yorker building at 314 Park Avenue, Southeast, has been vacant for more than a generation. It is unoccupied, but it is not unsecured. There are three stout doors in the front that are tightly locked. The windows are thick and not cracked. It is not a building that invites vagrants or squatters. No child could break into it.

The back of the building is in rougher shape and, though still secure, an arguably poses an attractive nuisance.

On April 20, 2023, the building was designated as unfit for human habitation by the City of Aiken. Two official “UNSAFE STRUCTURE” signs were posted on two front doors and one in the rear. Any designation of unsafe structure triggers a legal process than can result in government demolition at one extreme and restoration at the other.

Jackson Petroleum Property

Five blocks away is the city-owned Jackson Petroleum property. It consists of three parcels at 102, 112, and 114 Williamsburg Street, SE, that were collectively purchased in March of 2021 for $175,000 by the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC). The AMDC sought to attract a developer who could turn the site into an apartment complex; as part of the larger Williamsburg Street/Farmer’s Market redevelopment effort.

The property consists of two old dilapidated houses categorized as warehouses, the old, vacant and blighted two story Jackson Petroleum office building, and three old open warehouses of various sizes. The combined area is just over two acres.

At one p.m. on May 8th, a 60-year old man was found dead in one of the buildings classed as a warehouse.

At Aiken City Council’s meeting that evening. Aiken resident Jacob Ellis inquired about the situation during “public comments on nonagenda items,” when citizens can comment on any city issues to Council.

According to the official meeting minutes, Mr. Ellis asked about “what was being done to hold the landlords accountable to seal up the buildings that are abandoned to stop people from getting in these buildings. He pointed out that there are a lot of buildings
downtown,the south side,north, east and west sides abandoned. He asked what is being done to hold the landlords accountable to lock the buildings up so people can’t access the abandoned buildings.”

The official response included the fact the building is a city property (now that the AMDC is dissolved its property and assets were conveyed to the city), the entry to the building where the deceased man was found was forced open, and according to “the information we received”the properties were secured.

Exactly one month later on June 8th, the grounds of the Jackson Petroleum property arguably illustrated a classic example of an “attractive nuisance.”

The back of the old office building features a staircase, plywood boards on doors , and an open roof. One dilapidated home has a cheap rusting lock on the door, which can be pried open several inches and could be easily broken. The gate to the back was wide open, with a few old, easily accessible warehouses. All of this is in a residential area and across from Farmer’s Market.

At the 32 minute mark of the June 12th Council meeting Mr. Ellis again spoke about the situation.

“I drove by it tonight. There’s broken windows, broken glass, the gate is wide open for anyone and everyone to go in there. My question to City Council is, what is actually being done to secure the abandoned properties and hold landlords and the city accountable when they don’t secure properties?”

Mayor Rick Osbon replied; “Yeah, I mean it just needs to be secured no question if it’s not. So you went by today?’

Mr. Ellis answered, ‘I went by five minutes before I got here and the gate is wide open,” before being thanked for speaking. No commitment was made to secure the property.

In spite of the obvious unsafe conditions, there are no “Unsafe Structure” signs stating the structures are unsafe for human habitation. The few “no trespassing” signs are easily overlooked. Even with the gate closed, there are still accessible unsafe structures. Even the front of the former Jackson Petroleum office building is considerably less secure than the Aiken New Yorker building.

As witnessed during the Pascalis project proceedings, when a shrub was left in a window on AMDC owned property on Laurens Street for ten months, there can be one standard for government owned structures and an entirely different one for private property.

All photos by Don Moniak, June 8, 2023.

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