Program helps demolish blighted housing

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Finding funds to demolish blighted and often unsafe properties has been a priority for Van Wert city and county officials for several years. That’s why the $500,000 grant received this past fall through the Neighborhood Initiative Program that could lead to the demolition of as many as 30 additional properties in five target areas is so important to the county.

Stacy Adam, executive director of the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation, said the process of acquiring properties is well underway, with two Van Wert properties, 418 and 421 N. Market St., deeded over to the Van Wert County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank); two other properties, 231 N. Franklin St. and 580 S. Race St. in Van Wert, likely deeded over sometime this week; and two others, one in Van Wert and one in Middle Point, in the process of being acquired.

“The program is really focused on how to get rid of blighted, unsightly properties that are negatively impacting the neighbors around them,” she noted, adding that safety can also be improved by demolishing blighted houses.

“Some of these properties create a risk factor in neighborhoods,” she explained.

Acquiring properties is critical to the success of the program for a number of reasons, Adam added, with the most important factor being a grant requirement that the county acquire 10 properties by mid-May or possibly lose some funding. Meeting that requirement could also result in an added bonus, she said, since a community that does so could receive unused funds from other communities that don’t meet the requirement.

Adam said the program is currently on track to meet the 10-property requirement in the target areas, which include the city and village limits of Van Wert, Ohio City, Convoy, Middle Point, and Willshire.

“We were behind the 8 ball when we started the year, but we’re now on track,” she said, adding that there was a learning curve for the new program.

Adam gave credit for obtaining the NIP grant to county development staffer Sue Gerker, who did much of the work on the grant application.

“Sue was really responsible for getting the grant, to begin with,” Adam said.

Local officials were at first unsure of whether to apply for the grant, since the deadline was less than a month from when city and county officials first met on the subject. After discussing the matter, though, it was decided to go forward with the application.

As part of grant requirements, a county land bank entity had to be set up, which was done the first week of August 2016 with the creation of the Van Wert County Land Reutilization Corporation. The land bank provides a vehicle for the acquisition of blighted properties.

After receiving the go-ahead, Gerker enlisted consultant Robin Thomas to assist with the project, along with county Engineer’s Office employee Kory Thatcher, who created maps for the application showing the target areas.

Gerker said the target areas identified were communities where local officials had previously had success in acquiring and demolishing blighted properties.

Approval for the grant came in late fall 2016, with Adam saying she began working on the project after she was hired in December of last year.

The grant provides a maximum of $25,000 to acquire, demolish, and provide “greening” for a blighted property. Approximately $1,000 of the total is also used for administering each project. After a property is acquired, an asbestos assessment is conducted, and bids are taken from a list of local contractors to demolish the structure and do any needed asbestos abatement.

Properties eligible for the program include those that have been tax delinquent, been vacant for at least 90 days, and blighted or neglected. Properties not tax delinquent can also be donated to the land bank or purchased on behalf of the land bank.

Adam said the first two properties should be demolished and greening completed sometime in the next 90 days. The county can then apply for reimbursement of the project through the NIP grant program. Adam said the average demolition cost for an average-size house has been approximately $12,000.

The NIP grant is the latest in local efforts to clean up county communities by demolishing blighted, and often unsafe, houses.

Local officials received between $80,000 and $90,000 through the Ohio Moving Forward grant program administered by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Bill Lawson was in charge of the program for the city, while Mike Jackson handled the county side.

Gerker said approximately two dozen houses were demolished in the county under that program, as well as Phoenix Initiative, a later county initiative created for the same purpose.

According to Adam, the North Market Street properties were acquired through the foreclosure process, which allows properties to be deeded over to the land bank. Doing so means the land bank is able to acquire properties at no cost, a major benefit in maximizing the number of blighted properties that can be demolished.

Although the demolition process is fairly straight forward, Gerker said some creativity can be used in the greening portion of each project.

“That’s maybe the fun part, where creativity can come into play,” she added, noting that greening is usually done with an “end user” in mind.

Gerker said the end user could be owners of neighboring properties, in which case landscaping could be done, or even possibly a fence erected, if two neighbors split the lot.

Other greening possibilities include a basketball court, community garden, or even a book depository, Gerker noted.

Adam noted that, while communities are improved by the demolition of blighted housing, neighboring properties are the biggest beneficiaries. Noting that she has taken photos of many of the properties on a list of approximately 50 blighted properties that would potentially be eligible for the NIP grant program, Adam said she has found that many neighboring properties would benefit from the demolition of blighted housing.

“You see some of the neighboring properties that are well-maintained, they are absolutely beautiful,” she noted. “They are going to be a big benefactor of the cleanup that we’re going to be able to do.”