Snow Hill officials looking at options for Willow Street abandoned property
SNOW HILL, Md. – The Town of Snow Hill is looking to advance plans for the property on Willow Street. The building is abandoned, and now officials are having discussions about next steps at the recent town work session and council meeting.
Town Manager Rick Pollitt tells WMDT his opinion on the property.
“The building has a lot of character, I like the looks of it, but over the years it been allowed to fall apart over the years, and has been vacant for a number of years.”
Council member Aaron Lumpkins wants the property demolished. Other council members voted against demolition, and some members were absent due to illness. Due to this, it was tabled until a later date. Lumpkins says the property often has nefarious activity occurring.
“No one has lived in it for 30 years, and honestly if I had to have a vacant lot anywhere in town, that’s probably the spot. So for me, I say just bulldoze it to the ground.”
The vote on the future of the property was tabled until the second week of January in 2026.
Pollitt said the town wants to push opportunities to take claim on the property. “The town has declared the surplus, we’ve opened the door for people to come by with a plan to save it, destroy it, or demolish it, or put something else there.”
Negotiations have fallen through to sell the space. Pollitt explains that because of the sewer lift station in the properties backyard, some plans might not be tangible for potential buyers.
“It changes the whole dynamic, the town has what we call a sewer lift station, so it’s a critical element of our wastewater collection system, and as long as we have that which is going to be for years in the future, it’s going to limit what we can do with the property.”
Either way, Pollitt hopes something comes of the abandoned structure as officials have been trying to revitalize the downtown area.
“When you have a eye sore right in the middle of that, it does detract from those efforts, so it is in all of our interests to do something with the property.”
The Mayor & Council plan to come back and discuss further options in 2026.
