Six dilapidated houses were demolished last Wednesday, improving the curb appeal of some Yazoo City neighborhoods.
City Building Inspector Russ Carter was surprised when local individuals stepped in to clean up their properties as well.
The houses on Carter’s list included 801 West Broadway, 109 Locust Street and 111 Central Alley, which had been through the entire resolution process to be torn down.
Houses located at 857 West Madison Street, 1033 Ethel Street and 316 East Fourth Street were all demolished by the property owners, which saved time and resources for the city.
Normally, the process to remove dilapidated houses takes 90 days, after sending out notices to homeowners about the property, followed by warnings and violations, before a hearing is set up.
Once the process has started, multiple resolutions must pass through the board of mayor and aldermen before a time and date can be set up to remove the eye-sores from Yazoo City neighborhoods.
The benefit of individuals taking care of their own dilapidated property is that there is no tax assessment made on it, and the city saves money and resources by not having to pay for the demolition.
"Some of them are tearing it down by hand to salvage the material," said Carter. "Then when they get through, they clean it all up, and then the property will be able to be put back on the tax roll, with possibly a house on it. If they do it themselves, they could sell the property to someone who could make good use of it."
Carter went on to say that removing old, abandoned houses in neighborhoods promotes a clean environment and lowers the potential for vandalism, drug trafficking, prostitution, and other illicit activities.
Another positive effect of removing these houses is that it improves the property value of the neighborhood, and increases the tax revenue for the city.
"Once there is a clean-up done, it seems like it's catching. People start cleaning up their properties all around, so it's like there's a dual purpose." said Carter. "It helps promote cleanliness. People litter less when they see things done like that so it has a far-reaching effect."
Carter said he thought it was great that individuals in Yazoo City are stepping up to help improve their neighborhoods.
Carter's plan moving forward is to identify more properties in Yazoo City that have become abandoned and to start the 90 day process again to remove those houses as well.
