ELLERBE — A former town leader is calling on the current board to condemn a long-abandoned house.
Olivia Webb, who previously served as mayor, spoke at the March town council meeting regarding the former home of Mary Baldwin —a longtime educator who died in 2004 — at 287 Second St.
After reading Baldwin’s obituary, Webb showed a photo of the house and said, “This is how we are letting her be remembered.”
Webb referenced a news article from a year ago that stated the current owners — who do not live in town — had initially planned to move the house, but decided instead to renovate, including replacing the roof.
“I know that code enforcement is probably the nastiest business there is,” Webb said, after recalling actions taken when she was mayor, “but it is nastiest for people who live here.”
Olivia Webb addresses the Ellerbe Town Council regarding an abandoned house.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Property tax records show the house as being owned by Barbara Highfill, of Charlotte, who passed away in February of 2025.
Correspondence —obtained by Webb through a public records request — shows a structural report of the house from Sumney Engineering Associates addressed to John Highfill of Charlotte.
An email dated Jan. 24, 2025 to Senior Code Administrator John Ganus indicates that the family had hired a company to fix the chimneys, front porch left-side pole and the roof, which was expected to start “within the month.”
“After that, I’ll see what my family can stomach financially and hopefully we can get the house painted and fixed up a little bit,” the email reads.
Webb said she believes the family is “being deceitful.”
“Whatever the maximum penalty is for this needs to be brought down,” Webb said. “I think it’s a health hazard, I think it’s said that our kids walk home from middle school and pass that place every day.”
In addition to the condition of the house, Webb said there was an untagged abandoned vehicle parked behind it.
Webb suggested the house could be taken by the city, donated to the Rankin Museum of American Heritage, and/or used for a controlled burn.
“This is absolutely inexcusable and I don’t know what else to really say about it,” Webb said. “This is wrong. This is a dishonor to the memory of a good woman who changed the lives of a lot of people.
Webb went on to lament the actions, or lack thereof, of out-of-town property owners.
“People living outside of small towns like this and letting a property like that, that is in the center of town…degrade … when you have other properties outside the town limits that you have made substantial investments in,” Webb said, adding that she was still working on obtaining proof of the latter statement. “This is unfair on so many levels, and it is time for something to be done about it.”
Following Webb on the agenda was Ganus, who provided the board with an update on that property and others.
Senior Code Administrator John Ganus gives council members an update on the house in question.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Regarding the Second Street home, Ganus said he was assigned the case in the summer of 2024.
When he started communication with the owners, he said their original plan was to move it out of town and he worked with them on the timeline.
“It got to a point where they said the logistics … wasn’t going to work out, that they would, basically, have to tear half of the house off … so that it could be transported …so they were gonna do the renovations.”
Ganus said the roof was replaced, but “for the most part, they didn't do much of anything else.”
An inspection was performed in December of 2025, according to Ganus.
“The bones of the house are strong,” Ganus said. “It is structurally sound. It is not pretty, we can all agree to that.”
Ganus continued saying that there are still needed repairs, both inside and outside.
“The bathroom upstairs is in total disrepair, the kitchen has some problems,” Ganus said. “Most of the floors have no problems whatsoever, there’s a couple of little spots where the floors are weak and we talked about those.”
Ganus said the house does not qualify to be demolished, but does qualify to be repaired.
A hearing on the property has been scheduled for April 6 to discuss with the owners a timeframe and what needs to be done.
After the hearing, a finding of fact order will be issued outlining that the owners will have approximately 90 days to repair or close.
“If they don’t repair it within the …timeframe that they’re given … then I can bring that back to you and get an ordinance authorizing me to board it up,” Ganus told town leaders. “If the owner boards it up or whether the town boards it up, by law it can be that way for one year.”
If no substantial work has been done or the house brought into compliance within that year Ganus said he will come back to the council — after another inspection — and describe the condition of the house.
If the house has deteriorated further, Ganus said the order would be to demolish. If not, the order would be to repair or demolish.
Ganus said the property was still listed as “heir property” and in the name of Barbara Highfill.
The board attorney was directed to perform a title search.
Webb sent an email to town leaders later that night with a link to online court records showing that a final accounting of the estate was filed with the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Court’s office on Oct. 31, 2025.
Prior to discussing the Second Street property, Ganus said he had three inspections scheduled that day for Ellerbe Mobile Home Park, but the owners did not show up.
Ganus’ next move, he said, would be to obtain an inspection warrant to go inside.
“These three mobile homes are vacant,” Ganus said. “They’re in terrible shape.”
For one of the homes, Ganus said neither he nor the park owner had a mailing address for the owner.
Ganus also said that there were a couple of cases he had been able to close over the last year through renovation or demolition.
