New Kensington To Tackle Blighted Properties
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) - New Kensington homeowners living near blighted buildings may soon see them taken down.
The city has a list of homes they say qualify as potential nuisance properties, but they might not be ready for the wrecking ball quite yet.
"This is the worst it has been, you can't even see inside of it," said homeowner Brittany Kennedy.
On a beautiful fall day, Kennedy gives her observations on the ugly home next door.
"It's all the way around if you want to take a look all the way around," she said.
Catalpa Street is, for lack of a better word, an eyesore. But if leaders in New Kensington get their way, it and many other blighted homes will be razed.
There's a list of homes New Kensington says qualify to be laid waste, including an overgrown property on Leishman Ave.
"It's a nuisance, it's been like this for four years," said Freddy Clay.
Clay lives next door and he says in addition to being a potential fire risk or drug den with zero curb appeal, it's become a small wildlife preserve.
"Probably about a week ago about four or five raccoons rolled up on me and they just didn't care I was there," he said.
New Kensington says it has reached out to the property owners, giving them 10 days to fix the issues at these properties. If they get no response, the Board of Health is scheduled to meet Oct. 25 to determine whether the properties are a public nuisance. If that happens, the homes will meet their end.
Meanwhile, leaders in New Kensington say a federal Community Development Block Grant program will pay for the demolition of these blighted properties.
