West Carrollton cleaning up blighted properties in city: Here’s latest acquisition

“Quite frankly, used car auto lots, under our current zoning, don’t fit into that business district, so that business was there as a non-conforming use,” Lucking said. “Rather than see the use continued ...we’re trying to beautify the area and, at the same time, eliminate non-conforming use.”

West Carrollton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve acquisition of the property for $99,500. The site previously was home to an ice cream stand before its current use, he said.

The purchase is part of the city’s focus on obtaining properties along the Central Avenue-Dixie Drive corridor, which Lucking said is “kind of a gateway coming from the west.”

Last year, the city acquired a former automotive repair shop. It recently acquired a formerly residential garage along West Central between Miami Avenue and Smith Street, giving it a block the city hopes to do “something positive with in the coming years,” he said.

“In short, we’re trying to clean up,” Lucking said. ““It’s a bit of urban renewal ...without any hassle, if you will, or any kind of legal issues. Since they’re voluntarily shutting down, we will just discontinue the use.”

Council member Rick Barnhart, during Tuesday’s meeting, referred to the recent property purchase as “another piece in the puzzle.”

Some of the acquisitions have been carried out periodically for “some number of years” via tax delinquencies and foreclosed properties, he said. In the past four or five years, the city has attempted to focus on obtaining properties in the area across the street from Miami Valley Sand and the city’s downtown area.

“We’re trying to bring some vibrancy back to that area,” Lucking said.

West Carrollton will continue to be opportunistic as similar situations arise along the Central Avenue-Dixie Drive corridor from North Miami Avenue in the west to Interstate 75 to the east, he said.

“We are looking to update and do some beautification and create a good environment there for one of our main corridors,” Lucking said. “We’ve found a builder who’s got an appetite for buying vacant property and doing in-fill house construction.”

West Carrollton property purchases

Properties purchased by the city of West Carrollton over the past five years include:

Source: City of West Carrollton