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“These properties bring down the value of the community,” Clark County Land Bank Project Manager Ethan Harris said. “It brings down people’s perception of the communities.”
Neighbors have complained the vacant homes are a safety hazard and attract homeless people.
“We’ve had all the wild animals come in and out,” said Dick Ruf, who lives in between two properties owned by the Clark County Land Bank in the 1200 block of Highland Avenue. “Birds, squirrels, raccoon.”
One vacant home adjacent to him was torn down recently, but another sits empty on the opposite side. It’s slated to be demolished this spring, Harris said, along with about 20 other homes. The land bank has already razed 11 properties this year.
“We could do upwards of 40 properties this year,” he said.
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The majority of homes acquired by the land bank have been foreclosed on, he said, and then forfeited to the state when they weren’t purchased at a sheriff’s sale. Most of the homes have about $25,000 in unpaid taxes, Harris said.
It can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 to demolish each home, he said, depending on the amount of asbestos in the home and the size of the house.
The previous owner of the home next to Ruf had planned to renovate the building, he said, so much of the siding has been removed.
That’s made it impossible for the county to board up the home and people often break-in.
“I’m afraid they’re going to go in and set the place on fire and burn my house down,” he said.
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Adjacent property owners like Ruf are given the opportunity to own the property once the house is razed, Harris said. About 50 percent of the properties are turned over to neighbors. The other half are offered to other local nonprofits or governments or turned into a green space for the community to share.
The land bank has already created spaces with cherry blossom trees, park benches and little free libraries throughout the area.
“When we remove these properties, you see an uplift in the community,” Harris said. “You see the people that live around the houses get excited about where they live.”
Ruf hopes to take over the property next to him and plant a garden.
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“I’m happy,” he said about the planned demolition. “I’ve waited long enough.”
The city of Springfield also has its own efforts to demolish dilapidated properties.
It uses both federal Community Development Block Grant money and sewer funds to demolish homes to help with the combined sewer overflow project, which is federally mandated to reduce storm water and raw sewage from running into local streams and rivers, the Springfield News-Sun previously reported.
The abandoned structures are still tied to the sewer system and it’s cheaper to demolish the vacant homes than remove them from the sewer system. The city and county work closely together to maximize funding.
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By the numbers
$2 million — Funding the Clark County Land Bank has received to tear down vacant properties since 2014
40 — Total properties the land bank plans to tear down in 2017
50 percent — Properties turned over to neighbors after vacant homes have been demolished
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