Demo Board targets Ward 2 west of Broadway

The Lorain Demolition Board will take aim at 12 of the worst homes in the neighborhood just west of downtown.

The Demo Board will have its monthly meeting at 9 a.m. Nov. 16 at City Hall, 200 W. Erie Ave., Lorain.

Its meeting agenda includes 14 houses to consider whether the structures have become nuisances to public health in Lorain.

A dozen of them are in Ward 2, while two houses are in Ward 7, according to the agenda.

“I’ll be there for sure,” Ward 2 Councilman Dennis Flores said about the meeting.

For years, Flores has photographed dwellings in his ward to document the deterioration of the neighborhood.

In the past, he has provided the photos and addresses of the houses for city inspectors to review.

“I know there’s a couple of them that are not on the list that I’m getting chronic complaints from the residents of people going in and squatting,” Flores said. “They go in overnight.”

He said he wants the city to board up houses with wood or transparent plastic for visibility, but there is no money to do so.

With Ward 2 as an example, Flores outlined several conditions that make it difficult to combat the decay of vacant houses.

Lorain Municipal Court

has a housing code court, but it has a tremendous caseload and in the past, some complaints were dismissed because they became outdated, Flores said.

There are at least two properties where owners owe property taxes, but those likely will never be paid, so nothing happens on the land, he said.

Flores cited the example of the lot at the northwest corner of 17th Street and Long Avenue.

It is owned by HSBC of Brandon, Florida, which owes at least $133,556 in back taxes and delinquent special assessments, according to the Lorain County Auditor’s Office.

“It’ll sit there forever,” Flores said.

Across the street at 701 W. 17th St., the United Polish Club sits empty, Flores said.

The club owes $64,868 in back property taxes, according to the county auditor’s records.

The Lorain County Land Reutilization Corp., which also is known as the county land bank, does not necessarily consider the condition of houses when it obtains them for demolition, Flores said.

Some houses that appear to be fixer-uppers get on the demolition list, he said.

“Why can’t you tear down the worst of the worst first?” he asked. “Where will we start to make headway on dilapidated (houses)? How are we going to stop the decay?”

Meanwhile, people who come to Lorain or want to stay in the city move to the west side, where builders are adding houses as those in the center of the city fall down, Flores said.

The problem is a complex one, he said.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with all these homes,” Flores said. “I don’t know if we’ll see a solution to stop the blight.”

Houses on the agenda for the demo board, and the wards, are:

Ward 2

• 1053, 1055 and 1059 W. 12th St. • 327 and 775 W. 13th St. • 216 and 217 W. 15th St. • 1503 Reid Ave. • 410, 819, 831 and 930 W. 17th St.

Ward 7

• 1734 W. 12th St. • 1218 W. 14th St.