A Winter NAP in MorningSide
Violation tags will appear on blighted properties in response to the Nuisance Abatement Program by the DLBA. Image courtesy of Eric Dueweke
Residents of Courville, Three Mile Dr. and Bedford St. might have noticed several vacant houses that were tagged with large white violation notices back in November. The Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) recently extended its Nuisance Abatement Program (NAP) to these three streets in MorningSide. Since 2014, the NAP has taken effective strides toward its goal of combating blight in several Detroit neighborhoods.
A total of 42 properties were postered by NAP in this round:
24 on Courville
7 on Three Mile
11 on Bedford
The NAP complaint requires owners to renovate their property or risk having the house seized. Owners have three days to contact the DLBA to enter into a consent agreement to fix up their property. As of early February:
6 property owners have entered into agreements
10 properties in the negotiation process
Land Bank tracking down legal owners for 26 properties
DLBA attorney Giuseppe Palazzolo expects to file a nuisance lawsuit in late March or April against owners who do not respond or agree to repair blighted conditions.
Once a lawsuit is filed, owners have 28 days to respond.
Failure to respond results in DLBA seeking a Default Judgement
Land Bank ultimately takes title to the property
Process may take several months
Owner may come forward and enter an agreement at any time in process
Consent agreements are the preferred method of resolution in most cases, per attorney Palazzolo. The DLBA website states that over 1600 agreements have been negotiated with NAP owners over the past five years. Some 90 of these were in the “East English Village” area, which includes Audubon and East Outer Drive.
Local property owner Travis Biziorek signed a consent agreement to fix up a house he’s already rehabbing on Courville. Biziorek, who renovated two other MorningSide houses in 2020, believes NAP is a good idea, and “would be happy” to purchase a couple of nearby properties from owners unable to comply with the NAP requirements.
While some may believe that most vacant houses are already owned by the Land Bank, the MorningSide Vacant Property Task Force found that of the 460+ vacant houses identified in October 2020, fewer than 80 might be DLBA-owned.
The Nuisance Abatement Program provides a promising method for convincing private owners to return their properties to productive use. When asked whether NAP might be extended to other streets in MorningSide, Mr. Palazzolo replied “maybe in future years.”
Requests to add any additional vacant and blighted houses on Courville/Three Mile/Bedford to the current NAP list can be emailed to napdlba@detroitlandbank.org or routed through District 4 Manager Rod Liggons.
NAP will tackle such properties as this one at 3984 Courville Street. Image courtesy of Eric Dueweke
