Restoring Michigan Communities – Building by Building

In many communities the tools and enforcement procedures have been developed over time without an overall plan that takes into account how the tools interact with one another. Jeffers encouraged participants to address the problems in a systematic way:

Step 1: Identify the problems

Step 2: Make an inventory of a community’s existing tools and enforcement procedures

Step 3: Develop a plan

Step 4: Put the plan in place

The Restoring Michigan Communities – Building by Building manual will guide communities through this process and shows how a plan of action fits with state statutes and ordinances that have been adopted to address problems of blight and unoccupied buildings. While there isn’t one magic plan that works for all communities, following the process outlined in the manual will help a community develop a workable plan.
Click here to download a pdf of the manual (you will be prompted to enter your user name and password).

What is working in Michigan?

Representatives from communities that have begun the process of addressing blight shared their success stories.

East Lansing

Howard Asch, president of the Michigan Housing Officers Association and director of code enforcement and neighborhood conservation for East Lansing, introduced two philosophies of dealing with blight. We can focus on enforcing the codes or we can focus on the results such as safe and blight free property. Asch gave two examples of communities that obtained 85 percent compliance by letting home owners know that they would be enforcing ordinances. East Lansing had a large number of properties where the fences were in disrepair. The city made a media announcement that code enforcement officers would be inspecting fences and then sent letters to residences that had deficient fences. Form these two acts they received 85 percent compliance. The remaining 15 percent received a call from an inspector and only a handful needed a violation letter. According to Asch, once you start this ball rolling it brings other benefits. Re

sidents see their neighbors fixing up their property, increasing the value of their property and taking pride in the neighborhood and get on board.

Wayne County

Eric Sabree, chief assistant corporation counsel, and Michael Russell, assistant corporation counsel for Wayne County, discussed the Wayne County Nuisance Abatement Program.
Community involvement is at the core of Wayne County’s Nuisance Abatement Program. The nuisance abatement team works with community-based groups to identify and monitor nuisance properties. Property that is a blighting influence and abandoned is inspected and a thorough title search is conducted. The Nuisance Abatement Team files a nuisance abatement suit against the last identifiable owner seeking renovation or demolition of the property.

If no one responds to the lawsuit or if a defendant unsuccessfully challenges the lawsuit, Wayne County asks the court for title to the property as a remedy to abate the nuisance. This is a last resort. The Nuisance Abatement Program’s goal is to rehabilitate the properties. In 2006, 965 lawsuits were filed, 410 properties have been renovated or are under agreement and 70 properties were sold by auction on the county’s website. This is a social rather than a revenue making program. Default judgments can be set aside if the owner is willing and able to rehabilitate the property.

Click Here for Wayne County's PowerPoint

Grand Rapids

Virginia Million, code compliance administrator for Grand Rapids, explained that prior to 2000, there was minimal code enforcement in Grand Rapids. That was when a headline announcing 500 vacant properties grabbed everyone’s attention. As a response, Grand Rapids developed code changes that addressed vacant and abandoned property and created a vision for the city. The code specifies when a vacant building has to be boarded up, and authorizes the city to send a vendor to put up boards and bill the owner if the owner doesn’t respond. The city maintains a vacant building registry and charges the owner for inspections every 60 days. If the owner is making progress on rehabilitating the building the fees can be waived. Again this is not a revenue generating program. The goal is to rehabilitate blighted, abandoned property. Seven or eight projects end up in receivership each year as a last resort when every possible avenue has been explored.

Saginaw

Odail Thorns, director, department of development, and John Stemple, coordinator, neighborhood revitalization for Saginaw, discussed how the city is restoring or rebuilding one block at a time. The implementation strategy identifies specific interventions that are needed to improve the quality of life in a neighborhood. Neighborhood meetings are critical to keep people motivated and involved. The area was divided into four zones that had specific priorities, including demolition in what was identified as the most blighted zone. Partnerships with MSHDA, Saginaw County, the Land Bank, St. Mary’s Hospital, neighborhood groups and HUD were all important in revitalizing the area.

Click Here for Saginaw's PowerPoint

Muskegon

Mark Kincaid, deputy director of public safety for Muskegon and a member of the Travelling Trio (see video for more details), talked about the need to get after blight violations when they are small and keeping the pressure on to get houses back up to code. Muskegon has a lot of older trees that if neglected will cover the street lights. The forestry department cuts back the trees increasing the light and making neighborhoods feel more secure. Graffiti is removed by the parks department the same day it’s reported. Eventually the graffiti artists give up as they know their work will be quickly removed.
Muskegon sees demolition as a failure, but if a property has to be demolished the contract includes restoring the lot to the condition it was in before the condemned building was built. Top soil and seed are required so that the land can be used for neighborhood gardens. Sidewalk repair is required if the sidewalk is damaged by the demolition equipment.

The vacant structure ordinance starts assessing fees once a building has been vacant for 30 days. Fees help get the rehabilitation process started but revenue is not the goal. Enforce the codes but keep an eye on the big picture and give a break to people who are working at bringing a property up to code.

Click here to see the League video highlighting the Travelling Trio in Muskegon and how they are making a difference.

Jackson

Susan Murphy, deputy city attorney, and Jerry Ludwig, mayor of Jackson, discussed setting up an Administrative Hearings Bureau and how it is impacting blight in Jackson.
Jackson was the first community in the state to create an Administrative Hearings Bureau (AHB) that deals in house with the problems of blight and abandoned houses instead of having to take cases to the circuit court. In April 2005 the Jackson AHB opened its doors on a part-time basis. In the first nine months 108 housing hearings were held. In 2007 the number had risen to 221. The Jackson AHB is modeled after Chicago’s AHB.

When a citation is issued the homeowner comes to a pre-trial hearing where he or she can negotiate an agreement to bring the home up to code and avoid going before the administrative hearings officer. As with the other programs presented at the workshop the goal is to rehabilitate the property. If the homeowner is willing to commit to bringing the building up to code he or she will return on a schedule to show that progress is being made in rehabilitating the property. While most fines are reasonable the act allows for fines up to $10,000 since the clean up of hazardous waste on the property falls under the jurisdiction of the bureau.

Click Here for Jackson's PowerPoint

Conclusion

These successful programs are making a difference in Michigan’s communities. The first action to take to create an effective anti-blight program in any community is to follow the steps outlined in the Restoring Michigan Communities – Building by Building manual: identify the problems, make an inventory of your existing tools and enforcement procedures, develop a plan and, put your plan in place.