NEW ALBANY — In an aggressive sweep that started in May, the city of New Albany funded the demolition of 22 houses, and more blighted structures are likely headed to the chopping block.
The city wants to set an example that unsafe and unsightly structures won’t be permitted to stand indefinitely, Mayor Jeff Gahan and Building Commissioner David Brewer said Friday.
“We have been aggressive, but it’s part of making the city of New Albany safer and cleaner,” Gahan said.
“A lot of times people don’t realize how a dilapidated property brings down the look and feel of a neighborhood.”
And most importantly, abandoned and unstable structures present safety hazards such as the threat of fire and criminal activity, he continued.
Vacant houses have been razed on several streets including Culbertson Avenue, Charter Street, Oak Street and Olive Avenue over the past two months. There are 10 additional houses slated for demolition based on a list that was approved by the New Albany Building Commission earlier this year.
Once a house is demolished by order of the city, a lien is place on the property so that the public funds can be recouped if the land is ever sold.
Unless an emergency demolition is ordered, the city gives property owners a minimum of 60 days notice before razing a structure. Brewer said in most cases, property owners are notified up to four months before the city proceeds with a demolition.
Once the houses are razed, the contractors hired by the city straw and seed the lots and fill in the empty footprint of the former home with dirt.
Gahan said the contractors have been conscious of the impact razing a house has on a neighborhood, and added he’s pleased with the steps that have been taken to restore those now empty lots.
Hopefully investors and Realtors will develop those vacant lots to further improve neighborhoods, Gahan continued.
“In a lot of ways, demolition services as an incentive — it makes a property more marketable,” he said.
New Albany is blessed with a significant historic housing stock, and the city must be mindful of preservation when considering demolition, Brewer and Gahan said.
City leaders are expected to meet with Indiana Landmarks officials this week about the future of the Circa-1880 building at 922 Culbertson Ave.
The building was set for private demolition, but city and Indiana Landmarks officials are attempting to broker a deal to salvage the former bar and confectionery.
Brewer has said the city wants a realistic plan for redeveloping the structure so that it doesn’t remain blighted and vacant.
Beyond demolitions, the city has increased other code enforcement efforts. There were 240 contract cleanups of properties footed by New Albany in 2012 and 2013, compared to just 33 in 2010-11.
But there’s two ways of looking at those numbers, Brewer said. While the city needed to crackdown on dilapidated and overgrown lots in recent years, the goal is to have fewer cleanups.
And according to Brewer, the city is on pace to have less cleanups this year. In part, property owners have become more accountable, and violators have realized the city will enforce ordinances, he said.
“Actions speak a lot louder than words,” Brewer said.
As a result, code enforcement has been able to concentrate more on graffiti removal and aiding the Street Department in cleaning up alleys.
As more properties are improved, the city could ideally focus more on enforcing ordinances on properties that aren’t vacant or unsafe but are unsightly, Brewer continued.
“We’re going to continue down this path until we solve this issue of blight,” he said.