STEUBENVILLE — A city-imposed deadline for the current owner of the Fort Steuben Mall to either produce a plan to address alleged building code violations or face closure remains in effect despite pressure from business owners and at least one council member.

At Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Mike Johnson told council there was no indication the owner, Total Finance, planned to take steps to correct the conditions, so requests to double or quadruple the 30-day deadline were denied.

“My heart goes out to the mall businesses and employees,” Johnson said after the meeting. “Through no fault of theirs, they are in a bad situation. The city is responsible for following the Ohio building codes. Our building department has a responsibility to ensure buildings are safe for the public to occupy. Following the Ohio building codes, our building department made the hard but necessary call to condemn the mall.”

Johnson said a person does not have to be a building expert “to see the mall’s condition poses a danger to the public.”

“The city has rejected the mall’s requests for an extension of time,” he said. “We have seen nothing to date to indicate the mall will take the necessary measures to bring the building into compliance with the Ohio building code.”

City building inspectors notified the mall’s owner two weeks ago that they had found the mall unsafe for occupancy. Among the concerns outlined in their report are shifting storefront facades with displaced glass panels, uneven flooring with major concrete deviations, broken skylight glass, roof leaks, odors indicative of possible mold or mildew and large, deep potholes in the parking lot and on Mall Drive.

Seven freestanding businesses — 7 Ranges, J.C. Penney, Walmart, Texas Roadhouse, Eat’n Park, The Shoe Department Encore, Aspen Dental and Dunham’s Sporting Goods — were exempted from the city’s “fix it or close it” ultimatum.

Johnson said city officials have been trying to get the owner to act for months.

“This process actually started in January, when we asked them to come up with a plan to address the various code violations,” he said. “We followed up in February. No plan was submitted. We followed up in April with our letter, the April 27 letter, in which we gave them 30 days to respond. We believed 30 days was sufficient for them to get an engineer.”

“You have to remember that mall is basically condemnable now,” Johnson added. “But we gave them the extra 30 days to give everybody a heads up and for the businesses out there to start making plans to relocate. I mean, this is a health and safety issue.”

Councilman Royal Mayo was critical, saying 30 days is not enough time for shopkeepers to relocate. He also pointed out that, if the city condemns the mall property, demolition costs would be enormous.

Mayo also noted Total Finance only took possession of the mall about six months ago after the former owner defaulted on a loan.

“The No. 1 issue is safety, but No. 2 is the employees who work at these places,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the right move.”

Mayo pointed out conditions at the mall have been deteriorating for years and questioned why city officials suddenly felt compelled to act.

Johnson bristled, asking Mayo if he was “accusing me of incorrect activity. You either are or you aren’t?”

“I want to make this city safe. I want to make this business prosperous,” he added. “I feel bad for the businesses that may be going out of business but at some point someone has to do something.”

Several business owners attended the meeting and, during public forum, voiced concerns about the looming condemnation.