From KPRC 2. This
is Houston newsmakers with khambrel Marshall.
You
are looking at one of what the city of Houston says, is a dangerous building
and needs to be demolished. The city is now making it a higher
priority to go after and get rid of these structures, something
that is under the purview of the Department of neighborhoods.
Good morning and welcome to Houston newsmakers where I’m joined by the director of
the Department of neighborhoods for the City of Houston to Casa Francis.
Good morning. Good morning. Good to see you here. I want to ask you, this is this
program something that’s new or a continuation of
an existing program. Do know if this is a continuation of
Of an existing responsibility. Actually,
the department of neighborhoods is responsible for among other things. Code
enforcement, that deals with quality of life issues, dangerous
buildings, represent impediments to public health and safety.
Because a dangerous building is any building or structure that
has a violation that could cause serious
injury
to a human being.
So this is just
an extension
with the appropriate budget
to go forward and do what we are actually commissioned to do
when you talk about a budget, what are you have number?
You have goals for how many of these buildings you want to take down, or how many
are out there that you need to take down. Sure. Absolutely. So since
2016, there have been over 11,000 records
of dangerous buildings in the city of Houston and our record. Keeping
that have either been corrected by demolition
either securing those buildings from
you no vacancies
or either repairs that owners.
Done. And so now this year, we have
about enqueue nearly a little over 300
administrative orders,
where demolition is now, the corrective action that will
need to be taken.
We were approved
by city council last year for a new budget, over three years
with new vendors around 18 million dollars.
So now we can go back and we can actually execute the corrective
action on those orders and make neighborhoods safer and cleaner. So what’s the
notification process like for property owners who may have a building
that you deem is,
Is. Okay, that’s dangerous. You got to take that down. What’s that process? Look like sure. So
the process is if we actually come upon a structure will do the initial
inspection under chapter 10 of the city’s Municipal Code. Once
we see that there is a dangerous buildings violation,
whether it’s going to be and
there are several eligibility criteria as but to just
encapsulate it. If there is any issue with the structure that could, cause some level
of asphyxiation, whether it’s hanging soffits, whether it’s a roof,
or a floor of insufficient strength, anything that is under the
threat of collapse, whether within the building or
To a neighboring. Property is considered a dangerous building.
Anything that is vacant an open that is actually an attractive nuisance.
For crime is also considered to be a dangerous building, and
that’s the other aspect of dangerous buildings.
They are Havens for Crime. Whether it is gang activity,
drug, activity, prostitution, sexual assaults, be
provide the appropriate Shield that criminals will look for
to be able to carry out some of those acts. So I’m guessing that you want other
citizens to help out in this process. So that being the case, what
should Joe or Mary citizen do
if they want?
Alert you that the two are building that they believe might be dangerous. They report
that 2311. Once we come out and do the inspection, we usually
will notify the
property owner by the yellow placard in the yard, and we also
will send another form of notification through the mail,
typically, depending upon the circumstances the average time that an
owner is given to comply initially is going to be about 21 days
in some instances. If they have not done that, we have the buildings and Standards
Commission which is a board and commission of the city of Houston
that reviews, our evidence to look and see if it meets the qualifications
of a day.
Dangerous building, and they will make what is a legal administrative order
to determine whether the building needs to be repaired secured
or demolished. The owner is given a certain time up to 90
days to make, whatever the recommendation of the commission is.
And after that, the city can then move forward to take the appropriate
corrective action, is there a typical amount
probably in your business and what you’re doing is probably nothing, really typical.
But how long does a process like this? Takes a from the time
somebody’s notified to a time that they’re building is taken down
after. They’d gone through all the processes. Can it take?
Anywhere up to six months to a year to get all that done or
more? Well, sometimes they can because when it comes down to dangerous
buildings, it’s a complex legal process. We are talking about someone’s
property. So there are certain parts of due process that we have to observe.
So the initial notification, we have to give that notification.
Now, there are some instances where there is an emergency
present where there is an immediate harm to
human life and safety, where a person could be killed or seriously injured
in some of those instances under the municipal code, the
notice comes
Are.
So if you have a fire, ravaged, building,
you know, for instance,
where there’s the danger of collapse or electrocution something
like that, or along those lines, will be something where the public health and safety
imperative would indicate that we have to take that down. Now, I know
some people
may say,
okay, wait a minute, you’re taking my property you haven’t given me notice
that sort of thing. I’m guessing that you probably keep pretty good records on when
you’re sending out notifications to people. Absolute process.
Absolutely. And what happens is the only time we don’t have to give prior notices
if there.
An emergency situation as I just mentioned, but previously,
that is the whole purpose. You can’t have an administrative hearing without giving notice
to the owner.
And the other thing that people have to realize is, we’re eliminating the structure
on the property. It’s not a taking of the property.
So the structure is dangerous. We’re only leveling the structure
to make sure that we removed that danger, but we’re not taking someone’s
property. Now, there is a lien that will go on the property, but
that lien doesn’t take your property. It is now just an encumbrance
on your property. So I want people to understand that when we are taking down
those
Those buildings and cities, not taking your property, but we are eliminating, the
structure that is causing the public health, and safety concern.
I noticed it. We’ve had a news conference this weekend and so now going
forward,
you’re kicking it up into a higher gear I guess. Yeah. He’s letting people know
what’s going on. Well, absolutely. And so if you know that you
may have whether it’s inheritance property or some other type of property that has
already gone through that process. Now would be the time to really start thinking
about how you may be able to
either make whatever repairs need to make to the property if that’s available
under your administrative.
But for those people who have
vacant properties that have been listed as dangerous properties that
qualify for demolition, we are demolishing those buildings
and restoring the safety in these neighborhoods where people who are in process
who may be in line for something like that, they would have already
received some sort of notification. Nobody’s going to just drive up a bulldozer and say
your
turn.
No,
no,
there’s going to be an administrative order that that’s already going to be in place.
Alright, well, thank you so much, director Francis. We thank you for being here
and
good luck on this whole process. And
Making of the city of Houston a better place. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank