Ohio's demolition grant program still inspires improvements after it ends

The Daily Briefing Buckeye Forum Podcast

The Dispatchpublic affairs team talks politics and tackles state and federal government issues in the Buckeye Forum podcast.

Newark Mayor Jeff Hall called the Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant program a godsend.

Over the past 2 1/2 years, Hall has used the money to demolish more than 50 abandoned and dilapidated buildings in the city.

It didnt solve Newarks problem. There are still plenty of old, blighted buildings left to deal with in a city whose first building boom occurred in the mid-1800s. And, as of December, the funding had dried up. So whats next?

In many ways, its back to the drawing board, said Hall, who is relying on an undersized property maintenance department with one full-time inspector to put pressure on negligent property owners and issue liens if necessary.

But now there is a little momentum.

One dilapidated property makes all of the others look worse, Hall said. But you take it down and, all of a sudden, the street looks a little better. The neighbor thinks, Finally, Ill fix my porch. We have private-sector involvement now looking at buying multiple houses on a street and fixing them up. It keeps going on even without the (grant) dollars.

The Ohio attorney generals office was awarded $93 million in 2012 in a national settlement against five of the countrys largest predatory lenders whose unethical practices helped spark an epidemic of foreclosures and, ultimately, abandoned homes.

From that, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine set aside $75 million for the creation of the grant program.

Go here to see the original:
Ohio's demolition grant program still inspires improvements after it ends