ANDERSON — With the planned demolition of 128 abandoned houses over a four-year span, several neighborhoods will find alternative uses for the properties.
Todd Fisher, director of the Anderson Municipal Development Department, said there are three different pools of money being used to raze the neighborhood “eyesores."
The majority of the funding is coming from a $2.8 million Blight Elimination Program federal grant.
Through the program, the city purchases a property from the owner or through tax certificates, and then demolishes the structure.
Once the residential dwellings are demolished, the goal is to transform the properties into green space, parks and gardens or to construct new residential housing, officials said.
The city can spend between $15,000 and $25,000 to acquire a property, demolish the structure and pay maintenance costs.
To demolish a property through the program, the city has to find an owner willing to sell the site to the city, hire a contractor and perform demolition.
Fisher said through September the city has taken down 45 structures, with another 12 slated for demolition in the coming weeks. The goal is to remove 75 by the end of the year.
“We have to find an owner willing to sell the property,” he said. “The property has to have a clear title with no liens. The biggest problem is locating the property owners. Many of them don’t live in Anderson.”
Fisher said once the process begins to identify a property for demolition the city must make sure it hasn’t been sold through the county’s tax sale or commissioner’s sale.
“In some instances we have found properties that have been sold three times,” he said. “We’re hoping to have enough waivers signed in 2018 to move faster on the demolitions.”
Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. said there is a concern of children playing in abandoned structures and getting injured, or properties being used for illegal drugs.
“Our goal is to get someone to maintain the property,” he said. “We have six people working on the program in the municipal and community development departments.”
Broderick said the properties are turned over to the Anderson Community Development Corp. (ACDC), which must have a community partner such as Habitat for Humanity or another not-for-profit revitalize the properties.
The ACDC then negotiates the price and reaches an agreement with the community partner.
ACDC chairman Kevin Sulc said earlier this year there are several people and entities interested in the properties obtained by the organization.
“It’s good that we have interest in some of the properties,” he said.
Sulc said there will be mixed use of the properties in the future.
He said ACDC needs to set a standard price for the purchase of properties acquired through the Blight Elimination Program. Sulc said Hartford City set a price of $1,000 per lot.