[StBernard] Blighted Requirements

[Westley Annis]

Parish may target windows, doors

Proposal prods owners of blighted homes Saturday, June 24, 2006 
 
By Karen Turni Bazile
 
A proposal by some St. Bernard Parish officials would require property
owners who aren't demolishing their Katrina-damaged homes to have unbroken
windows and doors 60 days after being cited for blight. 
 
The Parish Council will consider the proposal on July 6. 
 
Citations, however, would not be issued until after an already established
deadline that gives homeowners until Aug. 29 to gut their homes and secure
them. 
 
The proposal also would give cited homeowners 120 days to repair their roofs
and damaged exterior walls. 
 
Officials said the plan would be the next step toward nudging homeowners to
address their flooded properties and prevent massive blight that could
stymie the parish's recovery. 
 
"We want the fronts of the houses to look presentable," Acting Parish Chief
Administrative Officer Dave Peralta said. "It's only fair for those of us
who are coming back. People have to realize the better the houses look, the
better chance they will have of selling them if they don't want to come
back." 
 
Councilman Craig Taffaro said it's important to make the homes safe, but
residents need the chance to acquire building supplies that are often hard
to get post-Katrina. He said the window requirement is intended to give
police and neighbors visibility into the homes. 
 
"We already are having problems with squatters. We have to be able to see in
these gutted homes for sheriff's patrols and if there is a fire, boarded-up
homes are much more difficult to handle," he said. 
 
But Councilman Mark Madary said some residents will be hindered by
unresolved insurance claims and other factors that could make the deadline
hard to meet. "I don't see how we are going to enforce it," Madary said. "I
think you have to keep the pressure on to have people respond to doing
something with their property but I think there are going to be a lot of
extenuating circumstances." 
 
Under current parish law, officials can fine homeowners for having no doors
or windows and for fostering mold and health hazards, though the council has
suspended enforcement of that law until Aug. 29. 
 
Peralta said that no matter what happens, people must cut their grass
whether or not they plan to demolish their homes. After the Aug. 29
deadline, the parish will cut the grass and charge homeowners $300 for each
cutting that must be paid or the charge will be levied as a lien against the
property. 
 
About 3,500 homeowners have signed up to have their houses demolished
through a program financed by FEMA. In addition, 4,400 have signed up with a
volunteer group, though owners may signed up in both lists. 
 
But officials said there are 12,000 homes that owners have not indicated
whether they will gut, demolish or rebuild. Because the parish doesn't know
what their plans are, the houses are officially considered blighted, pending
a visual inspection. 
 
Once the parish has determined the owners already have gutted them, the
addresses will be removed from the blighted housing list, Peralta said.
Those remaining on the list will be considered for the parish's program of
forced demolitions. 
 
The current proposal also would give residents whose property is cited for
not being cleaned by Aug. 29 five days to gut and clean. Then they would
have two more days to board up the house. Within 60 days of boarding a
structure, residents would have to install doors and windows, and within 60
more days they would have to repair their roofs. Residents will be charged
for any action the parish must take against them. 
Residents should let the parish know if their property is already cleaned so
they are not placed on the blighted property list. They can visit the
parish's Office of Community Development in the Recovery Department trailer
behind the government complex or call the office at (504) 278-4301 or (504)
278-4302. 
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