The new tear downs — part of the ongoing effort to combat blight — will include five properties: 331 Mann Ave., 627 Fairfield Ave., 1553 Miami Ave., 1025 Columbia Ave., and 1052 Columbia Ave.
FOLLOW: Will Garbe on Facebook and Twitter
“These are structurally unsound and/or unsanitary,” Gebhart said. “The unsanitary part comes when mold has essentially taken over the house.”
Gebhart is stunned by the mold growing in homes torn down over the years.
“We’ve been in houses where you pull open the kitchen drawers and there’s fuzz all over,” he said. “It’s amazing how the mold takes over, and the only remedy you have — cost-effective remedy — is to tear them down.”
Combined, the five tear down properties are $15,410 behind on taxes, according to Greene County property records.
The city is in the process of soliciting bids for the demolitions.
MORE: Fairborn neighborhood to expand again
Funds for the demolition are provided by a community redevelopment fund city council established in the 2016 fiscal year budget and continued in the 2017 budget. Council appropriated $250,000 each year.
“It’s our hope we’ll be able to continue to do it in fiscal year 2018,” Gebhart said. “Prior to that we used (Ohio Attorney General) Mike DeWine’s Moving Ohio Forward program,” which made money available for blight removal.
Sara Noble, a Miami Avenue resident, said she looks forward to the demolition.
“It’ll be good for the neighborhood and kids,” she said. “Kids can get hurt; animals, drug addicts, anything” that breaks into the vacant structure can get hurt.
While no plans yet exist for the property, she hopes the city can devote the land for a public purpose.
“I think what they should honestly do is a garden for people,” she said.
Read more coverage of Fairborn’s demolition program:
» Fairborn prepares for another round of residential demolitions
» Seven Fairborn homes will be demolished
»Fairborn to demolish six vacant homes
Contact this reporter at 937-259-2086 or will.garbe@coxinc.com.
About the Author