Monessen hearing to address blighted properties

By TAYLOR BROWN

tbrown@yourmvi.com

Monessen is taking steps — and adding more tools to its toolbox — to address blight in the city.

Each year, the city uses a portion of Community Development Block Grant funding to help address blight by demolishing houses and paving roads.

While there are no plans for the next funding cycle in 2021, a public hearing for the demolition of six properties will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the municipal building to gauge public comments and concerns. 

Some of the properties are badly overgrown with weeds, and Mayor Matt Shorraw sees the problems first hand almost daily.

“It is insane,” he said. “There are some properties where I did not know there were homes until I saw a house on the tax map. I think it safe to say those houses have been vacant for awhile.”

Shorraw said it’s not news that blight is a problem in the city.

“With our current project, we are trying to focus on structures that are collapsing and causing a safety hazard,” he said. “Most notably residential properties within the city that impose the most risk.

“Some of these houses have been abandoned for so long they have been a nuisance for decades.”

Shorraw estimates there are 160 vacant properties owned by the city and almost 200 more owned by the redevelopment authority. 

“There are a good bit between the two of us,” he said. “And that is not counting privately owned abandoned properties. It’s a big project to say the least.”

The city has torn down four or five properties so far this year, Shorraw said. 

“In a typical year we hope to tear down at least 10, but it all depends on their size and the funding we have available,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize that CDBG money can’t be used for just anything. And a typical small demolition can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. For bigger commercial properties, that number significantly increases.”

Earlier this week, Monessen Council enacted a new ordinance that would give new property owners who purchase homes or structures in the city with code violations 12 days to correct issues before citations are issued.

“A large part of the problem is people come to Monessen and buy our houses and buildings and do absolutely nothing with them,” Shorraw said. “They buy them online from their homes in California or New York and have never seen them before. Then they let them sit or use it as a tax writeoff.”

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