KINGWOOD — Amy Sapp has 10 days to remove her mobile home from the floodplain in Albright or the town can do it for her, Preston Circuit Judge Steve Shaffer ruled Thursday.
Albright attorney Buddy Turner said the town sent letters to Sapp in April and May, telling her the trailer violated town and county floodplain ordinances and that no permit had been obtained to place it on Susan Sapp’s Main Street lot.
Susan Sapp is Amy’s mother. Albright is located along the Cheat River.
In July, the town filed suit against Susan Sapp, seeking an injunction to force removal of the mobile home. Susan Sapp never responded to the suit, although she told the judge Thursday she had called once about it.
Susan acted as her own attorney Thursday, saying she couldn’t afford one. At the beginning of the hearing her fiancé, Kent Rowlands, sat at the table with her, but Judge Shaffer told him he could not represent her, as he is not an attorney.
Rowlands testified that he formerly worked as a floodplain coordinator. While the property is in the 100-year flood zone, Rowlands said the mobile home wouldn’t move in a flood and is still on its wheels, three of which have been vandalized.
Turner said both FEMA and the county have contacted Albright about the violation of floodplain ordinances. Preston’s floodplain coordinator said previously that failure to follow FEMA regulations could result in all Prestonians losing the right to buy flood insurance.
Rowlands and Susan Sapp said Amy had heart surgery a year ago and needs another surgery. They also said they couldn’t find anyone to move the trailer because of stories in the newspaper about it and that people were stealing from it, right down to the curtains.
Shaffer said he could name at least one business that would move the trailer.
The judge asked Susan Sapp for her daughter’s phone number. When told it was in her phone in the car, he allowed a break while she got the phone. Shaffer called Amy Sapp twice without getting an answer. Her mother said she might answer her call, so she also called twice. When Amy picked up on her mom’s third attempt, she was told to call the judge’s phone.
On speaker phone, Amy Sapp said she needed time but thought she could sell the trailer.
“I’m not going to give you a couple weeks,” Judge Shaffer told Amy Sapp, noting the process had already been drawn out over several months.
He noted her mother said the home could be emptied of belongings in a single day. The judge gave her five days from today to clean out the mobile home. It must be removed within 10 days from today or the town can remove it and seek to recover the expense from Sapp, Shaffer said.
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