Houston area residents fed up with vacant and abandoned properties creating eyesores and potential dangers

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Department Of Neighborhoods News

Public Works,City Of Houston,Eyesore

Vacant and abandoned properties are a problem in several neighborhoods across the Houston-area. Currently, the City of Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods has a list of 1,061 residential properties listed as “dangerous buildings.”

“Most of the time when people think of a dangerous building, you’re thinking of something that’s about to fall down. Structure is a big part of that, but there’s other components of that; open and vacant. If a building stays open and vacant and not secured, it’s considered a dangerous building,” said Reggie Harris, Asst. Director of the Department of Neighborhoods. “If it’s listing or leaning to a certain point, it’s a dangerous structure.

“Unfortunately, a lot of times a lot of our compliance is gained at the end of the process and not at the beginning of the process,” said Harris. “One property could involve 15-20 inspections.” Gonzalez said his family moved into their home 3-years ago and the home across the street has always been in a state of disrepair. When we checked city records we saw this property was on the Department of Neighborhoods’ radar as far back as 2020, with numerous follow-up inspections. City officials said the property is now being seized and prepped for demolition.

Watch the video to see what happened after we started asking why a county asset wasn’t better secured. You can also read more about the history of RiversideDON inspectors do face a daunting workload. In addition to dangerous buildings, inspectors are also responsible for watching out for high weeds, junked cars, stagnant water and several otherHarris said the department currently has 36 inspectors “on the street” and five supervisors.

A portion of a fence placed across the front of the building was torn away, windows and doors are broken and there is a large hole in the roof. The building housed J&J’s seafood, which suffered a major fire two years ago. The fire also forced other businesses to move out of the building. KPRC 2 was able to speak with the property owner’s agent, John Barr.“What about boarding up the front of the building so can’t into the actual building?” asked Arnold.

Public Works City Of Houston Eyesore Crime City Of Houston Abandoned Dangerous Buildings Vacant

 

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