[StBernard] New St. Bernard administration ready to tackle blighted properties

[Westley Annis]

New St. Bernard administration ready to tackle blighted properties

wwltv.com

Posted on February 8, 2012 at 10:22 PM

Updated yesterday at 10:22 PM

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News

CHALMETTE, La. -- For Leslie Wilson, Jr. it's a daily sight -- two houses on
his block in Chalmette that have been vacant for years and are rotting away.

"They won't cut the grass. It's an eyesore," Wilson said. "It's deplorable.
It's nasty."

Blighted structures continue littering neighborhoods across St. Bernard
Parish, but officials say they're gearing up to take them down.

"We promised to move forward. We've already started," said St. Bernard
Parish President David Peralta.

Peralta has only been on the job, officially, for a few weeks, but he said
he's already targeting as many as 400 homes for demolition.

Wednesday, crews ripped up old slabs in one neighborhood, and Peralta is
warning negligent property owners that their buildings could be next.

He said officials have been re-notifying people whose lots are in
non-compliance.

"We'll work with them if there's a solution, but it has to be a very
immediate solution, because it's been six years," he said. "They've been
given time to bring their houses into compliance with the rules and
ordinances of this parish."

The homes aren't just eyesores. Ask neighbors and they'll tell you, the
structures bring plenty of other problems.

The tall grass and weeds on some lots have become home to rodents and
snakes, while unsecured buildings attract a bad element.

"The drug addicts go there late at night, and you know, it creates
problems," said Sterling Cardon, a Chalmette property owner.

Cardon, who said he's actually bought some blighted properties at auction,
believes for many of those that are still left, demolition seems inevitable.

"A lot of these people can't afford it," he said. "They just can't afford to
redo them and that's why they're sitting empty."

But for the many people still living amongst the blight, it's time to move
forward.

"Tear it down," Wilson said