GULF SHORES, Ala. – Demolition on one house declared unsafe and an eyesore by the city could begin as early as Tuesday.

The City Council voted to hire a contractor to demolish a house at 1468 W. Beach Blvd., and cart off the debris.

Adelaide Miller is listed as the owner of the home and efforts by the city to reach her have been futile. The address listed for the owner is a P.O. box in Gulf Shores.

Joseph Hutchinson, the owner of 1624 W. Beach Blvd., has contacted the city and plans to look into having his home demolished himself. Records indicate the Hutchinson has a Butler, Ala., address.

“I’ve given him 14 days to obtain the permit to do that,” Environmental and Building Official Brandan Franklin said. “We’ll wait and see if he responds. He seems to think he can get it torn down cheaper than $3,500.

“He’s going to check on that this week and get back with us. He may wind up letting us take it down. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

A third homeowner, former Secretary of State Nancy Worley, has appealed the city decision to demolish her house at 1865 W. Beach Blvd. and will be scheduled to appear before the council sometime in April. She is listed as having a Gulf Shores address.

“Miss Worley is going to be notified of all the deficiencies in the house that we have found that caused us to deem it unsafe and an eyesore, nuisance,” Franklin said. “We’ll have until that council meeting to see if she shows and then we’ll go from there.”

Franklin says the Worley house may be beyond repair.

“We went out and did an inspection report and the siding is tearing loose from the house,” he said. “All the straps, the hurricane straps, have rusted and they are no longer holding the floor system together. There’s only one anchor on a two by eight supporting the whole floor system. That’s structural unsound.

“The sheathing behind the siding has decayed and is rotten to the point that there’s no structural stability for it.”

It’s likely, Franklin said, the structure doesn’t meet the 50 percent damage rule. According to FEMA.gov, “A facility is considered repairable when disaster damages do not exceed 50% of the cost of replacing a facility to its predisaster condition, and it is feasible to repair the facility so that it can perform the function for which it was being used as well as it did immediately prior to the disaster.”

“So if she did try to repair it, I’m afraid that it may have to meet our current code for the 2009 wind-load requirements,” Franklin said.