HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — With just more than a week left in 2019 Huntington has demolished 100 unsafe structures this year.
The 100th came down Monday when demolition crews tore into a house at 610 5th Avenue in Guyandotte.
City of Huntington Demolition Specialist Crystal Perry said all of the houses torn down were unsafe.
“We don’t get excited by tearing down a hundred houses just because we want to tear them down,” Perry told MetroNews. “We want to see these properties back in productive use but at the end of the day if this is what it takes to make the city cleaner and safer then we’re ready to do that also.”
Perry said Huntington Mayor Steve Williams and others began looking at the abandoned house issue a few years ago with the rise of the opioid epidemic. She said there were originally about 500 structures identified. The list of remaining structures is now down to about 130. Perry said the list has been trimmed in various ways.
“Some property owners stepped up to the plate and decided to rehab these properties, to invest. Some property owners decided to take this upon themselves, so they are paying for the demolition and then there were some property owners who wanted to pay but didn’t have the cash up front so they are paying payments to the city,” Perry said.
The city wants to work with property owners. She said in the long run it’s good for the city.
“Every house that we take down that means property values are going to go up. The side yard property owners are going to feel better about their properties and they are going to invest in their properties. It’s just a huge win,” Perry said.
The city has found homeless squatters in some of structures. Perry said the city tries to exercise sympathy and get those people help. She said that illegal occupancy though can cause problems for first responders. That’s why it’s important to demolish the houses if they aren’t going to be rehabbed.
“Our first responders are running towards it (an abandoned house on fire) when everybody is running way,” Perry said. “That was a big push of our’s. We’ve got to make this safe for them.”
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December 24, 2019 at 03:45AM
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Huntington house demo number climbs to 100 - West Virginia MetroNews
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