Two Starling Street homes have escaped the wrecking ball for now but will remain on the city’s demolition list.
A total of six homes on Starling Street were added to the city’s demolition list at last week’s Properties Committee meeting.
Although debris is cleared from one of the properties, no exterior repairs have been made, which makes it a candidate for demolition, said D’Andre Williams, housing inspector for the planning department.
“It is boarded up and secure, but it is dilapidated and it is an eyesore in that area. There is a lot of blight in that community and the residents and homeowners are complaining about that house and three more structures in that block,” he said.
Besides being an eyesore, the house cannot be easily accessed if there is a fire, Williams said.
“If something were to happen to this property in its present state, it would pose a safety hazard to our firemen as well because they can’t get back here to fight the fire,” he said.
Because the house has burned more than once, it needs all new wiring. It will also need to be brought up to existing building and electrical codes, Williams said.
Given the amount of work ahead, Councilman Al Brock asked Willie Britt, the property owner, if he is willing to invest in the home.
“Do you have the resources and do you want to put the money into a house like he’s describing to renovate to the standard you’re going to have to renovate it to?” he asked.
Despite the enormous expense, Britt said he has plans to repair and fix his East Starling Street home this year after he receives his income tax refund.
Committee members gave Britt 60 days to begin repairs on his home.
Nathaniel and Dorothy Stanford, owners of a West Starling Street property, also requested more time to demolish their former home and save costs. Committee members granted the Stanfords request for four additional months to contact a contractor to demolish the home.
Growing up, Williams said he remembers the house was a jewel in the neighborhood.
“That was one of the prettiest houses in the neighborhood, but as you can seen, vandals have went in taken out all the windows, taken the doors. They’ve taken everything they could take off of this property,” he said.
Repeated boarding of the property has not stopped vandals who take the plywood down, steal it and use it to build dog houses.
In addition, the property is constantly dumped on despite her husband’s effort to keep it clean, Dorothy Stanford said.
“We tried to keep the yard cut and everything. He went over and cut it all the time, but we had somebody else dumping their garbage and it looked like it came from across the street where they were cooking,” she said.
