Property available after rehabilitation

Over the past two years, 24 properties have been addressed by the city through the Dangerous and Dilapidated (D&D) Program, leaving lots available for possible purchase to the public. Whether a citizen would like to sell a property to the city or is interested in purchasing a lot that has already been addressed, the planning and zoning department is the place to go.

“The process (to potentially sell a property to the city) begins with contacting the planning and zoning department. If you own a property that is dilapidated and beyond repair, feel free to contact out office,” said Erin Chambers, director of Planning and Zoning.

The city will inspect the property and determine if it meets the criteria of the D&D program. Criteria for the program includes determining whether it is a blight to the neighborhood, if it is beyond repair, whether acquisition costs would be low or that it has redevelopment potential, along with additional criteria.

Properties that are notice or order worthy are not typically acquired by the city.

“When they are noticed and order worthy they are degraded to such a point that they are a danger to the community. It is the responsibility of the property owner to fix that danger whether it be rehab the property or tear it down themselves,” Chambers said.

In most cases, if the order goes ignored, the city will enter and tear down the property.

The average price of purchase for properties in the D&D program is about 30 cents on the dollar of the assessed value. In addition to the purchase price, the city also has additional costs in demolition and rehab of the lot, that make keeping the purchase price low a priority.

“Any of the D&D properties that are torn down and cleared, if anyone is interested in it, they can give planning and zoning a call. Once it certifies that the contract work is complete and the lot is closed out we would consider selling them at any point in time,” Chambers said.

If a citizen is interested in a cleared property they can contact planning and zoning to begin a two part process. First, the city council has to set a public hearing for a hearing on a sale of city property. At the first meeting, the council will set a public hearing likely for the next meeting. Once the hearing is set, the public has until 4 p.m. the day of the hearing to submit additional bids. The bids are kept in a sealed envelope until 4 p.m. when they are opened and prepared for the council meeting. At the meeting, council will review any bids and make a decision on whether or not to sell the property.

Some properties that have high redevelopment potential the city may choose to hold on for future use. The property that Newton Village sits on was first a part of the D&D program the city sold for redevelopment.

The program, which is more than 25 years old, was started by former building official Mike Jones. When it first started, the main focus of work was the downtown area. After going largely unfunded for a number of years, the program received a million dollar boost from the housing initiative to start work again.

“With the housing initiative and replenishing the D&D program we have been able to accomplish a lot more. We have been focusing mostly on neighborhoods at this point in time,” Chambers said. “That is a finite amount of funds so we are going to triage our neighborhoods right now. Deal with a lot of the blight and then hopefully we will have a lot cleaner neighborhoods and people will feel motivated also take care of their own properties.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com.