SHA says sheds will be razed due to new regulations

In the last few weeks residents of the Statesville Housing Authority’s different apartment complexes have learned that the sheds in which they have stored things — in some cases for many years — are coming down.

The SHA sent residents a notice about a month ago in which they were instructed to unload their sheds by last Friday and that the actual process of the razing the structures was to have begun on Monday.

The notice informs residents that the removal of the sheds is being necessitated by “serious budget cuts” to the authority and the “condition” of the structures.

The notice tells that the SHA “cannot afford to bring the storage buildings up to HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) standards without sacrificing other important HUD requirements.”

But that information did little to allay the woes of the residents who are concerned about what to do with years-worth of stuff.

“I threw out basically everything I had in there,” said Ashley English, who lives in an SHA apartment unit on Columbia Street. “And there was a lot of stuff but I had no place to put it and we’re not allowed to have a yard sale, so I just had to throw it all away.”

English said her shed does not leak as far as she knew and that it appeared to her as if it would actually cost less to fix the sheds that do have structural problems than to tear all of them down.

“It just seems like it would be easier to keep them,” she said. “I already got rid of everything that was in mine but I’d still like to have some storage. I wish they’d keep them up.”

That was the sentiment of most of the residents in the apartments being impacted by the SHA decision, some 150 of whom signed a petition they hope will weigh on the authority’s leadership to keep the mostly 12-foot-by-12-foot buildings up.

Stephanie Bowman, who lives in an apartment on Inglewood Street, said she has had to store her grandchildren’s bicycles in her kitchen. 

“And it’s dangerous for me to walk around,” said Bowman, who is disabled. “They think of us as if we’re not human because we live in ‘housing.’”

Bowman said she still has not had the opportunity to completely clean out her storage building.

“I really don’t know how I’ll be able to without hiring someone,” she said. “And I can’t afford that.”

Krystal Summers also lives on Inglewood and said she paid a man $20 to clean out her shed. But the money was not the problem, she said.

“I had to throw out some very good things,” she said, and mentioned a bed and mattress and her Christmas tree. “But I have five kids and I relied on that to store a lot of their stuff.”

For most of his life Maxie Houston has answered to the nickname of Peter Rabbit, or “Pete” for short. His shed behind his McCullough Street apartment, is filled to the rafters with all sorts of stuff. He’s got an entire kitchenette in there, along with a tent that he says is used for cookouts and a computer desk and a couple of beds.

“And there is more than that,” he said. “I just don’t know how this makes any sense. You can say they’re playing hardball but this is just stupid.”

Candy Gray, whose daughter lives on McCullough, said the move seems counter-intuitive to good financial sense.

“I just know it has to cost more to tear those things down than it does to fix them,” she said. “As far as maintenance, I don’t know what you got to do. They’re just sheds, you don’t have to do (anything) to keep them up.”

But SHA Chief Operating Officer Darbah Skaf said the move has to be made.

“The sheds are in horrible shape,” she said. “And unfortunately, with all the cutbacks, we just can’t afford to fix them. HUD will fine us if we don’t bring them up to standards or tear them down and, as I said, we don’t have the funds available to bring them up to standards.”

The notice applies to only detached sheds. Skaf did not know off-hand how many sheds would be affected.

Skaf also said the residents had an opportunity to weigh in on the matter at a resident council meeting that was held last month prior to the decision being made to remove the sheds.

“The residents’ representatives supported the decision,” Skaf said. “And we have not had a single formal complaint made to us, as far as I know.”

The residents will have another chance to voice their displeasure over the possibility of losing their storage buildings on Friday, when SHA CEO David Meachem will be available to answer questions on that issue or any other that residents may have. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Depot.

“We are always prompt at answering any issues that residents have,” Skaf said. “And we always strive to continue the Statesville Housing Authority mission.”