ROGERS (KFSM) - The City of Rogers moved forward with plans Tuesday night to tackle dilapidated properties within city limits.
The city council voted to condemn the vacant house at 110 E. Allen St. after it sat empty for three years.
Neighbor Shelia Newport lived at the property when a fire broke out and destroyed it in 2013, injuring her boyfriend who spent 14 days in a coma.
"He ran into the back bedroom, woke me up, told me the house was on fire. So I called 911," said Newport. "He ran back in to get the keys to the truck to move it away from the house."
Newport said it harbors bad memories and she's tired of looking at it.
Tuesday night's city council meeting will give the property owner 30 days to start the process of tearing down the structure or bringing it up to code, according to Chris Griffin, a city attorney. If nothing is done, the City of Rogers would demolish the structure and put a lien on the property.
"The city is not saying, 'You have x-amount of days, you got to tear this down right now,' it's not like that. They can bring it up to code at least where it's not dangerous," said Gary Townzen, a city alderman. "They have that option."
Townzen called this a serious safety issue, and said action needs to be taken.
"The city doesn't take this stuff lightly. Going onto someone's property and just try to have them do something," said Townzen. "We don`t take that lightly. If you see the house, this is a no brainer. This needs to be torn down."
Additional properties have been brought before the city council, Townzen said, but property owners took action. He expected the city to take up more in the future.