The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie
The former Four Seasons Motel on Harrison Avenue has been found “unfit for human habitation” and condemned by the City of Elkins.
ELKINS – The former Four Seasons Motel has been found “unfit for human habitation” and condemned, Elkins city officials confirmed on Monday.
The property was condemned on April 22 by Elkins City Code Enforcement, after the water in the building had been turned off on April 15 at the request of the property manager, Elkins City Clerk Sutton Stokes told The Inter-Mountain Monday.
On April 16, Stokes said that Code Enforcement notified the property owner, Don Smith, that water service would have to be reestablished “within 48 hours” to avoid condemnation of the building.
Stokes said that, on April 22, after verifying that water service had not been reestablished, Code Enforcement, supported by the Elkins City Police Department, posted the building with notices of condemnation, and “verified that all occupants had vacated the premises at that time.”
“The property manager stated one of the primary reasons for (the property manager’s) request (to turn off the water) was that piping had been removed from the building,” Stokes told The Inter-Mountain. “By action of condemning it as unfit for human habitation, it’s now illegal for anyone to occupy the building.”
Stokes added, however, that he did not have any insight into whether or not anyone was currently in the building in defiance of the Code Enforcement’s order.
Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco also confirmed that the building had been condemned by the city, and that officials had been informed by the property manager that the water in the building would be turned off due to “pipes being stolen.”
“The property manager came in and told our treasurer (Tracy Judy) some of the pipes had been stolen, so he was going to have the water turned off,” Marco told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “I think we waited five days for them to turn it back on. Normally we do two (days), but because of Easter, we waited until the following Monday… and it wasn’t turned back on, so we had to condemn it.”
Marco confirmed with The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement that city council voted to give him the authority to sign a contract for the purchase of the Four Seasons property from Smith, in an executive session during their Nov. 21 meeting. The contractual agreement was unanimously ratified by the council during their Jan. 9 meeting.
Stokes confirmed with The Inter-Mountain on Monday that the city has not yet purchased the property from Smith. Marco stated in the past that the city would not be buying the property until all the tenants had been vacated.
Marco said on Monday that there is no current timeline in place for when the city will take over the property, as he is waiting for action to be taken by Smith’s attorney, Mike Mullens.
“(Mullens) owes our attorney a document,” Marco said. “Once we have that, we should be able to move forward.”
According to a previous press release from City Hall, “if and when” the city takes ownership of the property from Smith, the city plans to:
Erect temporary fencing
Have an exterminator treat the property for pests and vermin
Demolish the structure
Transform the property into a greenspace or welcome area
Residents of the Four Seasons Property on Harrison Avenue received eviction notices on Dec. 31, 2024, drafted by Mullens. Notices were served by the Randolph County Sheriff Department with assistance from Elkins City Police Department, Marco told The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement.
Elkins City Hall released a press statement on Dec. 31 in response to rumors and questions about the property and the city’s plan to buy it. According to the release, Smith has owned the property since 2012 and granted Bruce Howell authority to operate the property to provide residential rental living units, with Howell functioning as a “landlord.” Marco said in a previous statement that the land contract between Smith and Howell was dissolved in 2024 due to “several violations that were not corrected.”
“I feel that the City of Elkins has let these tenants down because our previous Operations Manager, and especially the Code Enforcement Officer, did not do their job,” Marco told The Inter-Mountain in December. “They turned a blind eye to several violations, which is why the property got to the point it was. It’s why we have the issues that we have.”
