LAWTON – The City of Lawton is in the process of eliminating hundreds of dangerous and dilapidated structures throughout the city.
The city has $3.5 million in Capital Improvements Program funding earmarked for the program.
According to the city’s Neighborhood Services Division, the goal is to raze 120 structures each year over the next five years, or 600 severely deteriorated houses. However, considering the current average cost of demolition, the city believes it will be able to stretch its money over six years and tear down approximately 700 shabby houses.
The City Council, during a special meeting Tuesday, designated more than a dozen “dangerous and dilapidated” structures for demolition.
They included 908 and 916 SW D Ave., 818 NE Carver Ave., 126 NE Bell Drive, 207 SW Park Ave., 806 SW 15th Street, 1301 NW Taft Ave.,1303 SW 3rd Street, 1614 SW C Ave., 1760 SW 14th Street, 1906 and 1907 SW D Ave., 1921 SW 20th Street, 2009 and 2015 SW B Ave., 2101 SW B Ave., and 2714 NW 25th Street.
On each of the properties the council adopted a resolution declaring the structure to be “dilapidated, detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of the general public and community, a blighting influence, and a public nuisance.”
The owners of 14 of those properties live in Lawton, one in Geronimo, one in Oklahoma City, and one in Washington, D.C., tax records reflect.
Within 30 days the owner must obtain a permit to either rehabilitate the property or tear it down and remove the debris “in compliance with the city’s building code requirements.”
If the property owner fails to do either, the city is authorized” to “abate the nuisance…” The city’s Neighborhood Services Division is empowered to solicit bids from contractors to “raze and remove” the dilapidated structure and clean the site.
All of the costs borne by the city in abating the nuisance “shall be charged to the owner of the property as a personal obligation and to the real property itself…” If the bill is not paid, a lien is attached to the property.
“We typically do not recover our costs,” Mayor Stan Booker said.
Some residential lots may remain vacant after dilapidated structures are razed because developers might be reluctant to invest in construction of a new single-family house in a declining neighborhood.
However, “Our goal is to promote redevelopment,” Booker said. Renewal may not have to be a single-family house. There are multiple locations where a nice duplex would fit in.”
The goal of the D&D program “is to help with neighborhood renewal,” City Manager Michael Cleghorn said. In addition, “We want to get these lots back on the tax rolls.”