Blighted Properties

The goals of the EPNIA are two-fold: to further redevelopment of the neighborhood while also reducing blight. While the primary goal is to encourage the restoration of the homes in the area, in some cases this is not practical, either because of the condition of the homes or because the structures lack architectural integrity. In certain cases, the EPNIA will seek demolition of properties if they have become a nuisance in the area and there is no practical hope for restoration. Through the Enos Park Development, LLC the Association has recently become more pro-active in this attempt to remove nuisance properties from the landscape. 

In Progress

This property on the corner of 4th and Dodge has been vacant for years while the vegetation and elements have taken their toll. When the original owner passed away he left the property to his heirs, who contacted the EPNIA. The LLC will soon own the property and will demolish the structure and clear the site. 

  

 EPNIA has long sought action on this property, also boarded and vacant for years. After several years of pushing the city to seek demolition were unsuccessful, the EPNIA contacted the owners directly. This house had also been passed on through an estate to a group of siblings who did not want anything to do with the property but didn’t know how to get out of it due to the back taxes and liens that had been placed on the property. The EPNIA agreed to purchase the house for a nominal amount that would allow the owners to pay off their obligations on the property. 

This was one of seven properties within the boundaries of Enos Park that came up for sale at the county tax auction in September of 2010. For the first time, the Association sought to purchase all of the properties that were being sold for back taxes, with the idea that at least the Association could assign volunteers to make sure the vacant lots were kept mowed and free of debris. The city demolished this house the same day as the auction, and it became one of seven vacant lots acquired by the Association at the tax sale. 

 This apartment building, with the appearance of a motel, is very much out of character with the two-story homes surrounding it. Built in the 1960′s in the midst of turn-of-the-century homes, it is an example of the importance of appropriate zoning and the detrimental effects on neighborhoods when zoning is ignored. With nine one-bedroom units, this property also presented a population density issue and the physical condition declined over the years. In the last 10 years, the apartments were the source of frequent police calls as drugs and prostitution became commonplace. A nuisance abatement enacted by the State’s Attorney (at the request of the EPNIA) temporarily shut down the buildings, but when they were allowed to re-open, the same types of problem people quickly inhabited the apartments again. A fire damaged a portion of the building, which was never repaired, making it a further eyesore and an on-going problem for Public Works. The property had been for sale off and on in recent years, but the Association feared that even new owners would not change the inherent problems with the property. In 2010, The Jeremiah Project (a not-for-profit entity controlled by an EPNIA board member) purchased the property and the apartments were vacated. Asbestos remediation is now complete and the buildings are expected to be demolished in the first part of 2011. This will not only remove nine units of substandard housing from the neighborhood and the problems associated with those tenants, but also remove a property that never should have been built in that particular location. The hope is that the two vacant parcels will allow for construction of a larger, single-family home that will be appropriate to the surrounding properties. 

Ongoing Problem