Demolition ordered for former Big Lots store

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

Township trustees declared the long-vacant former Big Lots store along South Raccoon Road as a nuisance and ordered its demolition.

Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, said during a brief meeting Monday afternoon that the township fire inspector determined the building is structurally unsound and hazardous.

Big Lots closed the South Raccoon Road location in 2003, when it transferred operations to its Kirk Road location. Crivelli said the building has remained empty since before he started, 11 years ago.

The parcel in question and the structure are valued at $332,110, according to Mahoning County auditor records, and since 2002 have been in the hands of Plaza West Acquisitions LLC of Wayne, Mich., which has kept property taxes current.

It’s long been for sale, but hasn’t seen any promising deals, Crivelli said.

“It’d be nice if they came to us with a development plan – we’d listen,” he said. “But they’ve done nothing.

“It’s an eyesore,” he said, adding the township has received numerous complaints about the dilapidated, 1969-built structure.

Crivelli said a prior survey inside the structure found asbestos, which will make demolition more expensive. He said officials plan to leave the structure’s foundation.

Trustees have yet to seek bids for the demolition.