St. Joseph plans demolition of vacant homes
Ryan Hennessy, News-Press NOW – Forty St. Joseph structures are on the list to be knocked down by the city between now and the end of June 2020, coming on the heels of 42 homes that were demolished in the last year.
“We also have approximately $60,000 to $70,000 in funds set aside for securing properties and working with property owners to stabilize the property,” Clint Thompson, St. Joseph’s Director of Planning & Community Development, said. “The dangerous building processes is not a tool the city uses to eliminate our historic building stock. It’s to protect and encourage redevelopment in our neighborhoods and help eliminate the blight that may exist from a vacant structure that is beyond repair.”
St. Joseph openly charts all the buildings in the city with a program known as BuildingBlocks, which can be found at st-joseph-mo.tolemi.com. The software can tell the year the structure was built, the assessed value, as well as details behind property maintenance fines. The whole map can be toggled to include solely vacant properties, and possibly in the future, rental properties within the city.
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