Niagara moves to demolish blighted properties

RICK PFEIFFER

RICK. PFEIFFER@ NIAGARAGAZETTE. COM

TOWN OF NIAGARA — When Rob Berndt saw the construction workers show up at the property next to his in the 3000 block of Rhode Island Avenue on Tuesday, he could hardly contain his joy.

“I said, ‘Oh, thank God, I’ve been waiting years for you guys’,” Berndt said.

Owned by an absentee landlord, the two-story woodframe duplex had slowly rotted away over the past 10 to 15 years.

“It’s been abandoned, it’s been gutted, stripped of all its metal and electrical,” Berndt

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A vacant home at 3002 Rhode Island Avenue in the Town of Niagara is torn down on Wednesday.

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said. “(Someone) took the kitchen cabinets and even the toilets. Well, they did leave one toilet on the second floor.”

Berndt said he had worried that the rear of the structure might “fall off” and land on the workshop in his backyard. And then there was the private zoo that had been created inside and outside the vacant home.

“There were raccoons, skunks, possums,” Berndt said. “When they cut some grass, we found groundhogs. I saw a raccoon leading her babies out of there and the squirrels were constantly going in and out of it.”

Ashisdadandotherneighbors gathered to watch the demolition, around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Berndt said he brought out coffee and doughnuts for the onlookers.

“I’ve been waiting for years to see that come down,” he said.

The demolition on Rhode Island Avenue is one of five being undertaken by the town. Three are in Belden Center, one is on Military Road and one is on Edgewater Drive.

All of the properties are homes that have fallen into extreme disrepair. Four are owned by absentee landlords.

“They have all been condemned for 12 to 15 years,” said Town of Niagara Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso.“Wegavethemtime to fix their properties up. It’s been longenoughforthemtodealwith this blight.”

Virtuoso said the town was initially limited in what action it could take because the homeowners were paying their property taxes on time. But ultimately the dangers created by the dilapidated structures allowed the town to tear them down.

“How much longer could we wait, because it was a danger,” Virtuoso said. “Blight brings down property values and we just reassessed and people deserve to have the (full) value of their homes. This is a sign that we’re not tolerating this any longer and we will take action.”

Virtuoso estimated that the cost of demolishing the five properties will range between $16,000 and $20,000 each. The cost of the demolitions will be added to the owners’ property tax bills.