Swansboro business owner defends decision to hold auction

June 24--A Swansboro resident and business owner appeared before town commissioners recently to defend his decision to hold an auction that the town said was held in violation of building codes.

Junior Freeman, a former town commissioner who is a general contractor and home inspector, said the auction he held on May 31 at a building he renovated on Old Hammocks Road behind the Walgreens was a one-time event to sell construction materials, tools, hardware and other items.

It wasn't any different, he said, than auctioning off the contents in a storage building, a car repair business auctioning off a vehicle or even a homeowner having a yard sale.

Freeman said it was an ancillary use of the property and not a violation of town code.

"It was not my intention to violate any code," Freeman told the board during its June 17 meeting.

In an interview after the meeting, Freeman said he felt it was important for town officials to hear his side of the situation.

"That was my point of being there. The commissioners only had one side of the story," he said.

Freeman began working with High Speed Gear last year to renovate the old garment factory building, putting a vacant building to new use and allowing the growing business to relocate to a larger space within the town.

High Speed Gear has since begun operations in a portion of the building and a remaining 5,200 square feet remains vacant.

Freeman said he planned to use the vacant portion of the building for storage while finishing it out but learned the whole building would have to be empty to get a certificate of occupancy for the manufacturing operations.

Due to the certificate of occupancy requirement, Freeman said he went in and made upgrades and had the use of the vacant portion of the building changed to storage. At the same time, he said, he made plans for an auction.

Freeman said he had mentioned having an auction to the building inspector during discussions about the certificate of occupancy but he got a call on May 28 saying it was not an allowable use.

Freeman submitted copies of email correspondence between building inspector Jim Stipe and his attorney John Tantum.

In a May 30 message, Stipe notified Tantum of a violation and said the town would be forced to take corrective action in the matter.

Stipe indicated that an auction would be in conflict with the town code for itinerant merchants/transient vendors and also referred to correspondence he had with Mike Page of the N.C. Department of Insurance about holding an absolute auction in the building.

Page indicated in his response that if the building use was as an auction house the classification of the building would have to be changed and the building re-evaluated to ensure it was brought up to code requirements.

Freeman said that would be true if he were operating an auction house.

He said Page had misinformation and that when he talked to Page personally, he said that under state codes a one-time auction would be an ancillary use, though he couldn't speak to town codes.

Under the town codes, an itinerant merchant is a person other than a retail store operator in town, who transfers an inventory of goods to a building, vacant location or other location within the town or its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction and displays and offers it for sale.

The ordinance makes an exception for yard/garage sales.

A transient vendor is consider any person who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods and, for this purpose, uses or occupies any building or premises.

As a local businessman and general contractor, Freeman said he said he doesn't like the implication of a violation.

While there were concerns about a violation of town codes, the town did not proceed with a citation.

In a May 30 message sent to staff, Town Manager Dave Harvell said the inconvenience to the public should be considered. The auction, to be held the next day, had been advertised in the newspaper and with an unpermitted banner, and should be allowed to proceed without invoking a citation process, he said.

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