"Emergency" Demolition in Springfield

[iloveionia]

Megatron: the expectation for mothballing is rehab of the home, to earn the Certificate of Occupancy.  The COA final inspection requires a plan to get the home to habilitity.  I've stated this more than once.

I see mothballing two ways: first, owner request via a COA (owner facilitates and pays of course) and second, MCCD mothballs and places a lien on the home (this as OPPOSED to demolition.)

If you read about mothballing through the National Park Service, you will learn that a home/structure that is properly mothballed and monitored can stand for sometime: the property is safe, preserved, and blight is removed.   While the current mothball ordinance allows 3 years (it is renewable under certain circumstances) truly a mothballed property should remain until it can be rehabbed.  How rehabbed?  Current owner gets funds, home transferrs ownership, city re-visits the auctions, something along those lines.

We have a responsibility in this world to preserve our history and act sustainably. 

Save the houses.

[GoldenEst82]

Is there a city council meeting in the future where it would be appropriate to bring this up?

I am hoping to snag one of these old girls in the next two years. I want there to be something left to renovate by the time I am in a position to!

I would rather have one of these ladies in ANY shape ANY day, than basically anything else- especially something built after 1980.

[iloveionia]

Golden: you could email any or all of the council members with your hope for preservation action in Springfield.  CM Lumb is a good start, CM Gaffney represents Springfield. 

I love that you would submit a speaker card at a Council meeting however to speak on preservation importance.  Thank you!

[Debbie Thompson]

MetroJacksonville, this must be a sick joke.  This is the sponsored link/ad that came up on this thread.

Demolition Contractor Bid
www.HomeAdvisor.com
Don't Do It Yourself! Get Info on Home Demolition Services Near You.

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

MetroJacksonville, this must be a sick joke.  This is the sponsored link/ad that came up on this thread.

Demolition Contractor Bid
www.HomeAdvisor.com
Don't Do It Yourself! Get Info on Home Demolition Services Near You.

internet ads just scan for certain words; very rarely is there any kind ov context filter.

[BridgeTroll]

And just what sort of plan is out there for the dozens of renovated houses that people are walking away from.  Often with barely securing the front door ?

You mean that are owned by lenders?  They are unloading those fairly quickly.

Regardless, that's not the point of this discussion and it does no good to worry about them.  You'd be better off focusing on getting mothballed homes into the hands of those that are willing to rehab them.

So quickly that the houses are being destroyed by neglect?  Um it doesnt sound like you really know what you are talking about (again) megatron.  Why not let the grown ups figure this one out?

I would expect that grown ups would have something better than mothball-and-hope-for-the-best as a plan of action.

Not sure what you have against me but I have been nothing but respectful in this discussion.  I appreciate the efforts of all involved in saving these structures.  I want to see it work.  I simply think that the status quo is not working.

I will remove myself from this conversation.  Happy mothballing.

perhaps thats for the best.

wow...

[John P]

If you do not share the point of view you are not encouraged to talk

[BridgeTroll]

And just what sort of plan is out there for the dozens of renovated houses that people are walking away from.  Often with barely securing the front door ?

You mean that are owned by lenders?  They are unloading those fairly quickly.

Regardless, that's not the point of this discussion and it does no good to worry about them.  You'd be better off focusing on getting mothballed homes into the hands of those that are willing to rehab them.

So quickly that the houses are being destroyed by neglect?  Um it doesnt sound like you really know what you are talking about (again) megatron.  Why not let the grown ups figure this one out?

I would expect that grown ups would have something better than mothball-and-hope-for-the-best as a plan of action.

Not sure what you have against me but I have been nothing but respectful in this discussion.  I appreciate the efforts of all involved in saving these structures.  I want to see it work.  I simply think that the status quo is not working.

I will remove myself from this conversation.  Happy mothballing.

perhaps thats for the best.

wow...

well its half tongue in cheek, Bridge Troll.  But only half.  not everything should be a sounding board for right wing economic theories or libertarian notions of finance.  While I personally sympathize with the latter.

Historic preservation is simply too important of an issue to conflate with the political arguments of the moment.  The issues outlast whatever opinions we might have about economics, or finance.  For example Im sure no one in this forum has the ability to give two shits about the economic or financial controversies surrounding the construction, maintenance, use, or long term issues of the Roman Colliseum, the Parthenon or the beautiful antebellum mansions of Charleston.  Although I can guarantee you that none of them are without periods where the wisdom of their finances werent hotly debated for various reasons.

But only an idiot would argue that they should have all been torn down to satisfy the rigors of Kim Scott, code enforcement director of the City of Jacksonville or that they would have been properly cared for by the Real estate flipping financial scammers of Wall Street or the post Glass Steagall banking institutions of the present day.

No, Im sorry, but this is an issue that is best served by figuring out how to make it possible and easy, not by figuring out how best to turn a profit for small time operators or tax deed speculators.

Its apples and oranges and trying to reconcile the two is the exact reason that has driven the demolitions---by appealing to property value advantages for the questionable finance schemes of the very recent crop of 'redevelopers'.  It just doesnt work that way and the destroyed houses prove that.

While everything you say above may or may not be true... Neither Apache nor Megatron was saying the things you seem to be attributing to them.  I heard earnest questions and a few criticisms that the mothball plan... while good intentioned... does not seem to be working well.  You turned into some commentary about "flipping" and wall street investors.  Telling our posters that they are not grown up enough to be involved in a discussion that you are involved in seems ... well... wrong.  But what do I know...

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

yo dawg, i heard you like quotes...

[strider]

What's interesting to think about is if the banks had mothballed many of the houses I've seen "unloaded fairly quickly", the cost to make them habitable would of been substantially less and therefore, the selling price could have been substantially more.  I can safely guarantee that the cost of mothballing would have been much, much less than the cost of repairing the damaged done to the basically abandoned houses.

In the case of a house being condemned mostly for social reasons - it was a rooming house - the actual damage or maintenance issue, while severe in nature, was actually an easy and not too expensive fix. The resulting harassment from MCCD which made it very, very difficult to just fix the real issues left the house sit and the resulting damage to it was many times more than the maintenance issue.  Frankly, MCCD is more responsible for the neglect and resulting damage to the house than the owner. Had they done what I believe their job to be and helped rather than hinder at every turn, the house would be livable today. In this case, someone did come along and buy the house to restore and yet, you guessed it, the harassment from MCCD continues.

In fact, a home owner whose house is being talked about elsewhere on this forum asked today for permission to enter her own property and was denied. Yet she has a letter to fix it within ten days or it gets demolished. I will admit that MCCD has stated they would give them permission to enter if she came down to ask with a licensed contractor.  Which I find interesting since the vast majority of MCCD officers seem to have less of a clue as to the structure of a house than most home owners do.  Just read the minutes from the HPC meetings.

Mothballing is a great idea and one that should be successful. However, it's success is at least partially dependent upon a MCCD chief that cares about the citizens of the city she supposedly serves and is willing to obey the laws she is charged with following.  Jacksonville does not seem to have that with Ms. Kimberly Scott.

[iloveionia]

Mothballing is definitely part of a SOLUTION, not part of the problem. 
A lot of people bitch (not specifically referring to any particular person or group) and that is all they do: make noise! 
Being part of the solution and not part of the problem is far more productive and beneficial to the greater picture.
Get out there and make it happen!
Helping people, places, communities within our city should be the crux of operation.
Jacksonville does none of this.
Might just as well make the middle finger the symbol of response in this city.

[Timkin]

^ I could not agree more !


Am hoping this is an isolated incident (though my gut feeling tells me it will be otherwise) and that we can continue to save our historic places.

  Ionia's second point is painfully true.   The same individuals would not THINK of lifting a finger to help, however they will  complain.  For them it is far, far easier.

  I long for the day where long-term solutions are identified for Mothballed homes and commercial sites throughout our City where "demolition"  no longer an option.  There surely must be a better way.

[avs]

The bottom line and really sad thing is that the house on 2nd was structurally sound and should not have come down.    My tax dollars were wasted.  $10k to tear it down vs. $1000 to shore up the gable.  The leaders have failed here.  I always go back to "where is Gaffney?"  He is never anywhere around when his district needs our city council leader.  Failed leadership continues to allow a mismanagement of tax dollars.

Not to even bring up how unsustainable this policy is for the future.  How much tax money is going to be wasted tearing down these homes in the future when mothballing is so much cheaper?  How much waste to fill up our landfills?  Re-build on the lots??  Yes, use a bunch of NEW materials when OLD materials were thrown out into landfills?  That is supposed to make sense??  This is an unsustainable policy on so many levels.  And just plain failed leadership.

[JaxByDefault]

I have been out of town while all of this was happening and just found out that Springfield lost another great house just a few blocks from mine. Yet another tragedy.

I have to agree with Stephen Dare and Strider on this...where are the banks/REOs and why aren't they being held accountable by the city?

The house two doors down from me has been bank owned for about 1 1/2 years. During that period a lower floor window/wall has begun to bow out nearly to the point of collapse. Has the bank attempted to repair it? No. Has the city fined the bank for allowing the house to become an unsafe structure? Of course not. They are too busy going after hard working homeowners (often of limited means) that take too long to secure a porch or use the "proper" materials.

About two or three weeks ago, I noticed that the back door to the house was standing wide open. I haven't seen anyone coming or going, so I'm not sure why it is open now. It has been reported to the bank. Have the secured the property? No. When their lawn people came last week for the first time in six months, they couldn't even bother going around back to mow the 4' tall weeds, much less secure the property or notify the bank (again).

I had a similar issue several years ago with another unsecured property nearby. When I called to inform the REO, they said that they weren't going to do anything about it. I asked if I it would be okay if I went over and secured the property for them. They greeted my generous offer with threatening to call JSO and have me arrested for trespassing. Magically, the property secured itself and is now home to a lovely couple with their first child on the way. It's amazing how much better just a little investment on the front end is--the magic fairies used about $0.50 of screws and 5 minutes to secure the property. Sometimes that's all it takes to make the neighborhood a little better.

Rant over.

[iloveionia]

It's amazing how much better just a little investment on the front end is--the magic fairies used about $0.50 of screws and 5 minutes to secure the property. Sometimes that's all it takes to make the neighborhood a little better.

+1
Thank you Magic Fairy. 

This is an unsustainable policy on so many levels.  And just plain failed leadership.

Absolutely correct.