Commission Continues Condemnation Clean-up

In a continued pursuit to beautify the community, La Feria commissioners approved the condemnation of four more properties that have been left in dilapidated conditions for many years. Irene A. Szedlmayer. Planning and Community Development Director for La Feria presented a slide show of the properties that her office has determined are unfit for human occupancy and a nuisance at a recent city council meeting. The commission approved an action to have them demolished.

The addresses include: E. Bus. Highway 83, La Feria, Lot 1, tract A of the Schmidt’s Terrace Subdivision and owned by the estate of Clyde R. Somers of San Antonio ; E. Bus. Highway 83, 2.69 acres out of block 1, Evans subdivision, owner Pablo Gonzalez of Harlingen; E. Bus. Hwy 83, two-foot section of structure located on block 1, Evans Subdivision owned by Clyde R. Somers estate; 924 E. Bus. Hwy 83, .75 acres out of n. 14 acres of block 52, Hooks and Hodges subdivision, owned by Rosalinda Popescu of McAllen and 1000 Star Ct, lot 32, north La Feria Village subdivision, owner by Juan A. Hernandez of La Feria. Another property located on Parker Road was listed, but dropped from the final list pending legal notifications. The previous properties were ordered to be cleared within 30 days, although the city said they would be willing to work with owners if they come forward for assistance. Owners can hire their own demolition company or they can arrange the process with the city staff. If the city has to assume the cost of clearing the property, a lien can be placed on the property.

“I want to cooperate, the building has been damaged since Hurricane Dolly and I have been trying to sell it,” commented Rosalinda Popescu, owner of the property at 924 E. Bus. Hwy 83 (gray building, last used as a game room, Chaco’s Tex-Mex Grill, Art’s BBQ), “I got a bid to demolish for around $10,000…I need time to get the money”.

The staff advised Popescu that the building would need to be torn down and no building permits would be issued to try and repair the structure that has many add-ons. They added that the county would also have a record of the action for any potential buyers to see.

Evidence shows that vacant properties are an expense that local governments simply cannot afford – and that the expense grows with every year a property remains vacant or abandoned. Such properties produce no or little property tax income, but they require plenty of time, attention, and money:

A study in Austin, Texas found that “blocks with unsecured [vacant] buildings had 3.2 times as many drug calls to police, 1.8 times as many theft calls, and twice the number of violent calls as blocks without vacant buildings.

More than 12,000 fires break out in vacant structures each year in the US, resulting in $73 million in property damage annually. Most are the result of arson.

Over the past five years, St. Louis has spent $15.5 million, or nearly $100 per household, to demolish vacant buildings. Detroit spends $800,000 per year and Philadelphia spends $1,846,745 per year cleaning vacant lots.

A 2001 study in Philadelphia found that houses within 150 feet of a vacant or abandoned property experienced a net loss of $7,627 in value.

These statistics may be about bigger communities than La Feria, but proportionally, the facts still stand.