Residents of Northfield subdivision in Maryville have been looking at an unfinished construction site since 2005. Since then, the concrete foundation of what should be a house has begun to buckle and crumble, and stacks of construction materials have begun to mildew and rot, neighbors say.
Doug Jones, owner of 111 Knoll Lane, refused to comment on his plans for the property, but his building permit expires in December and city planners are considering what options they have to assist homeowners in Northfield.
When Jones started construction in 2005, he did so under a building permit issued to a contractor, Brown’s Craftsman Construction. Later that year, the city annulled the permit when it was discovered Jones was building the house as a private resident.
In December 2006, Jones was again awarded a building permit. This time, the permit was to build the structure himself. It was based on an affidavit issued by Criterium-Corum Engineers of Knoxville.
Ron Corum, owner of Criterium-Corum, said his company inspected the newly constructed footer and some structural supports for flooring.
He blamed the current condition of the site on a failure to follow through with normal construction procedures.
“If he’d have built it when it was supposed to have been built, then things wouldn’t have been sitting there in the rain and the weather and everything else. As time goes by, products become damaged,” Corum said.
By Gerhard Schneibel, The Daily Times
