Five more condemnations brought before city board

The city’s ongoing campaign against blighted properties brought resolutions condemning five vacant structures before the Hot Springs Board of Directors Tuesday night.

Property records showed the city has filed 75 condemnation notices since 2016, when the city’s neighborhood services division was directed to began enforcing the property maintenance code more aggressively. Addressing blighted properties is one of the current board’s stated goals. The previous board also listed it as a priority for the 2017-18 term.

The board adopted 12 condemnation resolutions in April. Chief Building Official Mike Scott

told the board earlier this year that neighborhood services had designated more than 100 vacant structures for condemnation, a list that exceeds the $45,000 the city allocates annually for demolition and removal of problem structures.

Scott has said the limited budget requires him to prioritize structures in danger of collapsing or that pose a nuisance. Several structures brought to the board Tuesday night fit that criteria. The board was still meeting at presstime.

Scott told the board last week that the back structure at 115 Patriot St. in city director District 4 is collapsing. According to property records, the owner lives in Blytheville.

“It’s in an area that’s swampy and low to the ground,” he said. “All underneath the house is wet. The floor is rotted. The brush around it is grown up so high that we have a difficult time mowing it.”

Scott said a wall is separating from the structure at 206 Bower St., which he said has not had a water or sewer connection since 2012 and has received 45 code violation notices. The structure in District 1 off Park Avenue has the same owner as 314 Vista Ave. in District 2. Thirty-six code violation notices have been brought against it, according to information presented to the board.

“It’s open to where anybody can walk in,” Scott said. “The floor is leaking in several spots because the roof leaks. There’s a second story back porch that you can’t walk out on because it will fall.”

The collapse of the structure at 105 Curl St. in District 2 is also imminent, Scott told the board.

“It’s starting to lean,” he said. “The floor is starting to lean really hard. We’ve already paid money to board this one up just to keep the vagrants out.”

Scott said the floor is also falling in at 1134 Pleasant St. in District 2.

“We couldn’t walk inside to get pictures,” he said, noting that the property is not in the Pleasant Street Historic District. “It definitely can’t be fixed.”

Scott has said it costs the city $3,000 to $5,000 to remove a structure, including hiring attorneys to represent unresponsive or deceased owners in condemnation proceedings. It files liens against the properties to recover the costs, but most lapse with no money being collected. The city has said the claims are enforceable for 10 years, but that most are written off as bad debt.