County programs target blight
Blighted, condemned and abandoned properties decrease neighboring property values, represent tax loss for municipalities and can invite illicit activities or even hazards such as fire.
County officials use a handful of programs at their disposal to either remove blighted buildings or rehabilitate abandoned properties.
Ed Mauk, director of the county housing and redevelopment authority, said Butler city and township both employ code enforcement officials who have the authority to condemn any building they deem unsafe for any further habitation.
For blighted properties that must be torn down, the authority can then take one of two tracks, Mauk said.
For properties in the city limits, Butler code enforcement officials contact the authority for demolition.The authority then requests price quotes for the property from several demolition companies, and the company offering the lowest quote gets the job.The company comes in, safely takes down the building and hauls away the rubble.Mauk said city officials then place a lien on the property, so the authority can recoup the cost of demolition.If the owner of the property wants to sell, they must first satisfy the lien.“That's how blight gets eliminated, but the owner doesn't benefit from it,” Mauk said.The second avenue is for the authority to petition the county court to be named conservator of the property.If the court awards conservatorship to the authority, the property is demolished.This method is typically used if the municipality where the blighted building exists does not employ an official who is authorized to condemn it.
The court can then award ownership of the property to the authority, which places the property in the county land bank.Mauk said the land bank was created by county commissioners about a year ago, so aging, abandoned properties can be rehabilitated and sold.Other land bank properties are vacant following demolition. In those cases, new homes can be erected and sold.“The job of the land bank is to get properties back on the tax rolls,” Mauk said.He said of the 14 properties in the possession of the land bank, 13 are in the Woodlands neighborhood in Connoquenessing Township.Mark Gordon, the county chief of economic development and planning, said the land bank will eventually consolidate the tiny lots in the rough neighborhood into larger properties where affordable single-family homes can be built and sold.Gordon said many of the Woodlands properties came to the land bank because they were tax delinquent.
An abandoned and condemned house on West Wayne Street was demolished Wednesday, and neighbors were elated to see the rotting property come down.Jean Savage, who lives next door to the property, watched as a large backhoe pulled down the building piece by piece.Filthy mattresses and furniture became the victim of gravity as the backhoe bucket repeatedly tore into the walls of the two-story home.Savage said the house has been sitting empty for years and has provided various annoyances.She said the house smells horrible in the summer due to the population of stray cats that live inside.Savage has seen young people try to kick in the door to pursue nefarious activities inside, including one pair of squatters who approached the building at midnight.She said the men claimed they were employees of the authority and were tasked with cleaning the property.
“Yeah right, at midnight,” Savage said. “They were throwing beer bottles and everything.”She said she has kept an eye on the house during the five years she has lived next to it.“I try to keep an eye on the whole neighborhood,” Savage said.She said rodents, fleas and cockroaches also were in the house.Savage was thrilled when demolition company officials showed up at the property two weeks ago to look at the job.Tiffany Taylor, who lives near the house, will not miss the pungent scent of cat urine this summer.“I'm excited because it stinks,” she said as the heavy machinery took out the last of the house. “Hopefully, they'll build a new place.”
Work on the house was halted about halfway through, when crews noticed a frightened gray cat on the roof.A worker climbed the boom of the excavator, climbed onto the bucket and retrieved the confused feline from its perch.Another worker lowered the boom, and the cat leapt from its rescuer's arms and dashed away unharmed.Many other neighbors approached the house to celebrate its demise.Mauk is glad the dilapidated house was removed.“Blight has a way of destroying neighborhoods,” he said. “It's almost like it's contagious.”He said about eight to 10 properties are demolished at the behest of the authority each year.“We are hoping to use all of our tools to turn blighted or near-blighted properties into assets for the county and municipalities,” Mauk said.He said the county receives grant funds to remove blighted properties.
