June 14, 2011 [Patch.com]
Cleveland Heights City Council approved another measure at its June 6 meeting to combat its vacant homes.
The city already has a few programs in place to rehabilitate or demolish vacant, abandoned and foreclosed homes, including the federally funded , which allows the city to purchase these homes that haven’t been maintained, restore them and put them on the market.
And the money that the city receives from the sales goes back into the fund to continue to address these properties.
The city will also use the funds to tear down homes if they can’t be saved, and now has another method of demolishing homes that could save money.
Cleveland Heights has had a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cuyahoga County Land Bank to work together to tackle the vacant housing properties in Cleveland Heights. The Land Bank can rehab, demolish or sell homes that it acquired in the city, like it does for other communities in the county. Right now there are about 11 such properties in Cleveland Heights, according to the Land Bank’s website.
With this new agreement, the Land Bank can also help take care of the houses that private companies own but aren’t maintaining that normally the city would pay to repair or demolish, said Cheryl Stephens, council member and also director of acquisitions, dispositions and development for the Land Bank.
Council member Dennis Wilcox said the Land Bank will primarily handle homes that need demolished, not rehabbed.
“I think it’s just one more asset or one more tool that we have to try to fight the amount of vacant and foreclosed homes (here),” Wilcox said. About 11 percent, or 2,500 housing units in Cleveland Heights are vacant, .
The Land Bank will completely cover the cost of some demolitions, said Stephens, who opted not to vote on this particular resolution at the June 6 meeting.
Normally demolitions cost anywhere from $10,000 to $13,000, said Kenneth Montlack, council member. During the May 16 and June 6 council meetings, members declared five properties in Cleveland Heights to be nuisances, and voted to bulldoze the homes if the owners don’t start to take care of violations and problems within 30 days.
Because the Land Bank serves Cuyahoga County and handles so many vacant houses, the organization can get reduced rates on home demolitions. Stephens said it costs about $7,000 to $7,500 to tear down a 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot home.
“We very rarely ask the city to share in the cost (of demolitions),” Stephens said. “We will try to continue to find ways to use third-party funds to (demolish houses) on behalf of the municipalities.” She added that the city can also put the cost of taking down the home as a lien on the property.
And if the city does pay for the work, it still saves money because the Land Bank can get lower bids, she said.
Stephens said the Land Bank will pay for the demolition of a few properties on Desota Avenue, including 3320 Desota declared to be a nuisance at the June 6 meeting, but has not received an invitation to bid yet on other properties.
Montlack said the blighted properties in Cleveland Heights are mostly owned by out-of-state limited liability companies with no assets, which walked away from the homes after purchasing them. Those declared to be nuisances in Cleveland Heights at the May 16 and June 6 meetings:
- 3320 Desota Avenue. Estimated cost to demolish, $13,000
- 1633 Coventry Road. Estimated cost to demolish, $13,000
- 1655 Coventry Road. Estimated cost to demolish, $13,000
- 1724 Coventry Road. Estimated cost to demolish, $13,000
- 3563 Northcliffe Road. Estimated cost to demolish, $10,000