Waking Up Waynesboro
Two years into their renewed effort to get rid of unfit housing, city officials are making headway
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

Now & Then: This East Seventh Street House is one of a dozen rehabbed under the city's new program.

The little white house could hardly be seen through the waist-high grass and creepers.

Underneath, it was bad. Really bad. The roof was shedding its shingles like a second skin, and vines were crawling up through the floor planks.

But that was two years ago … before the City of Waynesboro began forcing negligent homeowners to clean up, pay up or give up their properties.

Now, a new owner later, the little house is Rockwellesque right down to its painted columns and planted flowerbeds. Eleven other houses have followed that same example, and at least four more are almost there.

Waynesboro officials say it's only the beginning.

"Dilapidated housing is unfit, unhealthy and unsightly," Mayor Jesse Stone said. "It breeds crime. It hurts neighboring property values, and it discourages investments in neighborhoods."

Banking on what a turnaround could do for the city's presence and pocketbook, Mayor Stone has kept the effort high on his priority list.

Now, of the 75 unfit houses that were originally identified, 12 have been completely renovated, and 25, that were beyond repair, have been demolished.

"A lot of people have done what they're supposed to do, and that's made a really big difference," said city attorney Chris Dube, who was hired two years ago to take on the idled project. "Of course, we only seem to focus on that handful of people who haven't."

And that handful will likely see themselves back in court soon, explaining why their repairs or demolitions were never completed as ordered.

"It's really boiled down to those who are not cooperative now," Dube said. "And if they don't decide to cooperate soon, they run the risk of losing their property."

According to Dube, if a homeowner refuses to comply with a court order, the city will repair, or demolish the house at its own expense, then assess those costs back onto the property in the form of a lien.

If the owner doesn't pay up, the property will be foreclosed.

"Of course, we'd prefer the property owner to cooperate," Dube said.

Beyond the drawn-out legal processes, the city has hit a few bumps along the way. Twice, dilapidated houses have been sold at the courthouse steps just days before their demolitions were scheduled. Other houses have been left to as many as seven heirs living all over the country.

But city officials can see positive changes coming down the pipe.

Habitat for Humanity is working with the city to rehab at least one home, and a cleared lot, where a falling-down shack once stood, has been purchased by a convenience store owner.

"In the long haul, this program is going to work," Mayor Stone said. "We've just got to keep on pushing."