Eyesores can be hazardous to health as well as a burden on government budgets .
Of the five Middletown-area eyesores nominated by Journal readers, all appear to be on the demolition or face-lift list, according to city officials and owners of those properties.
For many of those structures — even those with curb appeal — the deteriorated interiors and the excessive cost to rehab them outweigh the benefits, he said. For instance, why invest $60,000 to remodel a house valued at $50,000, Adkins said.
Adkins said his top priority is leveling the “biggest” eyesores in the city. There are streets, he said, where one house that needs major renovations can lower the value of every other home on the street.
Falling property values in Middletown also can be traced to a supply-demand imbalance, he said.
According to U.S. Census data released this week, there are 23,296 housing units in Middletown. Just 20,238 are occupied, a 13.1-percent vacancy rate. That high percentage, he said, suggests “excessive housing” in the city.
Ridding Middletown of its eyesores, Adkins said, not only increases property values immediately, but also lowers the supply of housing, which also raises values.
411 Yankee Road, Middletown
Owner: Reynold Marotta
Date built: 1900
Occupancy: vacant
Taxes owed: $2,129.30
Value: $33,720
There apparently aren’t any takers for a house available for $500 down.
A “for sale” sign hangs in the front yard at 411 Yankee Road, but right now, following the partial demolition of the home, that doesn’t appear to be a good deal.
Most of the roof has been removed and a pile of wood rests against the chain-link fence in the front yard. It’s hard to tell whether the house is under construction or being demolished.
The front door is pad-locked.
The property faces Old South Park, which recently was refurbished with new playground equipment, and the homes along the Historic District on South Main Street.
Doug Adkins, director of community revitalization for the City of Middletown, said the house is set to be demolished within the next 30 days using Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.
Typically, he said, it takes about four months to get a house demolished because the house must be condemned, there is an appeal process, asbestos inspections, and approval from the Ohio Historical Society.
Laura Hughley, who recently moved in at 407 Yankee Road, two houses away, said her “biggest concern” is the prospect that rodents from the dilapidated residence will move into her home after demolition. Also, “It’s ugly,” she said of the property.
The house was vandalized in 2008 when thieves stole copper, and that same year, police were called several times on reports of vagrants living there.
Reynold Marotta could not be reached for comment.
The house has sold five times since July 28, 2006, according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office. It sold for $30,000 in 2006, $26,200 two years later, $4,000 in 2008, $6,000 in 2009 and $9,840 later in 2009.
1101 Forrer St., Lemon Twp.
Owner: Christopher Todd
Date built: 1940
Occupancy: Vacant
Taxes owed: $793.22
Value: $40,040
At the corner of Forrer Street and Ben Harrison Street in Lemon Twp., sits a log cabin partially covered with vinyl siding.
It is, depending on whom you ask, either “a junk yard” or a residence with “significant” historical importance.
Regardless, the home at 1101 Forrer St. is an eyesore, according to it neighbors.
Neighbors said the two trucks parked in the side yard of the residence are a nuisance, and the tires piled high in the back yard, and the mosquitoes they attract, are a health hazard. They also noted the “10-foot” weeds.
A neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she passes the property several times a day. She called it “a junk yard” that has become “a repository” for tires and other debris.
Another neighbor, who also sought anonymity, said she had no complaints about the property because it once was a log cabin.
Bill Adkins, owner of JMJB Investments, said he has contacted the city of Middletown and Lemon Twp., where the house is located, and lodged complaints about the condition of the property. So far, he said, he hasn’t received any “answers or action.”
He frets that the house affects the value of neighboring properties, some of which he owns.
According to the Butler County Auditor’s Office, the owner is Christopher Todd, who was unavailable for comment. The house sold for $68,000 in October 1985 and $31,000 in February 2004.
The land and building are valued at $40,040, according to the auditor’s office.
119 S. Main St., Middletown
Formerly: First Baptist Church
Owner: Melissa Fox
Date built: 1908
Occupancy: Vacant
Taxes owed: $2,996.76
Value: $17,640
Regarding the future of the former First Baptist Church — severely burned in June 2006 — the owner and a Middletown official have differing opinions.
Ed Hall, who expects to purchase the property this week for $6,000, hopes to renovate the church, 119 S. Main St., into an art gallery, museum or other business.
The church is “savable,” he says, and “there’s nothing wrong with it.”
But Doug Adkins, director of revitalization for the city of Middletown, believes the damage done by the fire — and the weather the last five years — is too expensive to repair. He called the necessary repairs “cost-prohibitive.”
Damage was estimated at $250,000 to the building and $50,000 to its contents. Whatever happens to the property, it remains an eyesore in the city’s Historic District, neighbors said.
The front of the church, the side facing South Main Street, doesn’t appear damaged by the fire and the stained-glass windows are intact.
But the back of the church was devastated by the fire. The metal beams are bare, the ceiling has collapsed, and the back yard resembles a dumping ground for wood pallets, beer cans, bottles and stray cats.
About nine years ago, John Phillips said he was renovating the building to be known as Rachel’s Place, a youth training center established in the memory of Rachel Joy Scott, his niece and Columbine High School shooting victim.
But the church was never converted and the Phillips family has moved out of Middletown.
While Hall said he has “not begun to speculate” what it would cost to renovate the church, he estimated the total cost at $100,000.
Hall, 43, a self-employed computer technician who lives at 405 S. Main St., expects the renovations to take months, if not years.
Adkins said demolition orders were issued to the owner in October 2010. But the Ohio Historical Society objected. In a letter, the society wrote that “the proposed demolition will have an adverse effect on the listed historic district.”
Melissa Fox, the listed owner of the home , could not be reached for comment after several attempts.
Hall said he wasn’t surprised that the church was voted as one of the city’s eyesores, but he added: “There are a lot of buildings in the city that are eyesores.”
500 N. Verity Parkway, Middletown
Known as: The Orman Building
Owner: City of Middletown
Date built: Not available
Occupancy: vacant
Taxes owed: $12,624.37
Value: $113,930
Right in the heart of downtown — on Verity Parkway, a major thoroughfare — sits one of the city’s largest eyesores, according to residents and other business owners.
The Orman Building, a three-story, two-building structure, is located at 500 N. Verity Parkway. The building, now owned by the city of Middletown, has been vacant for many years, said Doug Adkins, director of revitalization.
The buildings, once home to several businesses, have broken windows, boarded-up windows, weeds taller than one story, ivy growing up the bricks, and a wooden fence between the two buildings that hides a gravel parking lot full of vehicles.
One downtown businessman said he’s “disgusted” with the building’s appearance, and “disappointed” by the city’s enforcement of its ordinances.
Adkins said the city has achieved a Targeted Brownfield Assessment Grant to complete a Phase I environmental report on the property.
The city, he said, is considering the preparation of a Clean Ohio Assessment Grant application to complete a Phase II, which would then provide the city enough data to apply for a remediation grant to clean-up and/or demolish all or part of the building.
The city also is looking at “creative partnerships” to clean up and renovate the building, he said.
He said the building is “a solid structure,” with beams more than 100 years old.
The property was sold for $100,000 on Oct. 1, 1993 and for $400,000 on Dec. 17, 2002. The land is valued at $38,370 and the building, on .367 acres, is valued at $75,560, for a total of $113,930.
5566 Jacksonburg Road, Trenton
Formerly: Wayne Elementary School, Edgewood district
Owner: Charles Flaig
Date built: 1914
Occupancy: vacant
Taxes owed: $4,055.20
Value: $65,290
The former Wayne Elementary School looks like it could use a classroom of industrial arts students.
“It’s in pretty bad shape,” said Ted Ritter, zoning inspector for Wayne Twp. “I can’t see anything happening with it.”
Residents said they’re upset that the school, 5566 Jacksonburg Road, has been vacant for so many years, and is in its current condition. Many of the windows are smashed out or boarded up. The school’s yard is overcome with high weeds, and a chain link fence lines the property.
Robert Hoelle, a Wayne Twp., trustee, said his five daughters all attended the elementary school. He hates to see how the school has fallen into disrepair.
“It needs to be taken care of,” he said.
Ritter said the school once served as a high school and the last graduating class was 1960. He estimated no students have roamed the halls in 25 years.
Charles Flaig, of Oxford, purchased the property for $70,000 in 2007. Four years later, he hopes to sell the property for $70,000 or the best offer, he said.
He said there are two school buildings and a gymnasium. He said the building and the gymnasium, which features two basketball courts, are steady and salvageable. He said the roof needs to be patched and the windows need to be replaced.
Most of the building is made of concrete and brick and couldn’t be replaced for less than $100,000, Flaig said.
He admits there is pressure coming from Butler County zoning officials to either sell the property or renovate the school.
Right now, he said, he’s “looking for some buyers.”
The property, which sits on 3.972 acres, was last sold in February 2007 for $70,000, according to the auditor’s office. The land is valued at $34,050, the building at $31,240 for a total of $65,290.
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