Getting burned out houses removed - how do you get this done?

**lizaanne** · June-30-09, 12:10 PM

I know - this is probably a dead horse that I'm about to beat, but how do you go about getting rid of burned out houses? I am sick and tired of seeing the, what is it now, four or five?? burned out houses on Eight Mile between Woodward and Dequindre.

Who do you call to get these things pulled down? They look like hell, and they keep setting them on fire over and over.

**raptor56** · June-30-09, 12:13 PM

ehhhm *cough* *cough* Call the City.....

Blarf · June-30-09, 12:16 PM

Try calling the city, but they might be too busy spending $1.4 million to take down a single historic building downtown.

Lorax · June-30-09, 12:22 PM

Like I've said a thousand times before, there is no lack of money to demolish things in Detroit, there was apparently enough to bring down Hudson's, the Statler, now the Lafayette amongst dozens more.

The crappy wooden crack houses sitting burned and leaning all over the city would benefit more from the 1.4 mill being used to demo the Lafayette.

Don't EVER tell me there is not enough money around- when there's a fat kickback involved with demolition companies, then they'll find the money.

**mjs** · June-30-09, 12:23 PM

Not that much compared to the $16 million they turned down from a private investor that required they not reduce what they were already spending on it. They didn't want outsiders telling them how to run things. Its alos not much compared to the money they lost from the Feds because they were too damned slow.

Building and Safety is responsible for the removal of abandoned structures. Even if they were on their game, there's just simply not enough money. I think Kwame raised the average price to $16,000 per house.

**urbanoutdoors** · June-30-09, 12:41 PM

It will take a while going the city route... this route is still lengthy but try M. Russel at wayne county nuisance abatement [[313) 967 – 2203 to see if action can be taken against individual property owners... http://www.waynecounty.com/nap/index.aspx
BS&E # is [[313) 224 – 0419

**lizaanne** · June-30-09, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by urbanoutdoors

It will take a while going the city route... this route is still lengthy but try M. Russel at wayne county nuisance abatement [[313) 967 â€“ 2203 to see if action can be taken against individual property owners... http://www.waynecounty.com/nap/index.aspx
BS&E # is [[313) 224 â€“ 0419

Thank you! Practical advice!

I have to start from the assumption that a simple call to the city is not going to result in squat. I would imagine that they have already received multiple calls about these homes, and there they still stand, ready and waiting for another fire.

**jt1** · June-30-09, 01:34 PM

Contact the press and the Feds and tell them you have reason to believe that Jimmy Hoffa is buried under the house.

DetroitDad · June-30-09, 02:23 PM

Stage a protest outside the Lafayette on demolition day, and hand out fliers. Be sure to wright press releases for all the news media organizations and Detroit area bloggers.

**staticstate** · June-30-09, 02:26 PM

plant some ghetto palms in them?

**elganned** · June-30-09, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by staticstate

plant some ghetto palms in them?

I'm sure they're already there...in force.

**DetroitPetanque** · June-30-09, 03:33 PM

How much could a box of dynamite cost?! Just light the fuse and run!

**kraig** · June-30-09, 05:03 PM

I had some movement on something that I just started work on today.

Try contacting the Environmental Affairs Department.
[[313) 471-5100
[[313) 876-0974

They're located in Suite 1800 of the First National Building downtown. I didn't call, I went down there myself, and the people that I spoke with were very helpful.

Because the homes your concerned about have been fire damaged, they fit into more than just the Dangerous Building/Open to trespass category. Environmetal Affairs also corresponds with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality [[MDEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency [[EPA). So additional resources may be available for what you're looking to do.

Make sure you provide all the environmental concerns;
Tall weeds and grass
Rodents
Illegal dumping
Animal Fece
And anything else that you can think of.

Try to provide lots of pictures as well.

I applaud your effort for trying to do something about a bad situation. It's easy to just sit back and complain, but it takes hard work and effort to actually make a difference.

**wolverine** · June-30-09, 04:51 PM

That's it mjs, although my printed version looks different.

**raptor56** · June-30-09, 09:38 PM

Out of curiosity, what happens if you call your buddy Bulldozer Bill and you level the place yourself? There'd be a rubble heap leftover, but a pile of rubble is less of a hazard than a perpetually burning, ready to collapse house. Would there be any real legal repercussions on you and Bill?

**Det_ard** · July-01-09, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by raptor56

Out of curiosity, what happens if you call your buddy Bulldozer Bill and you level the place yourself? There'd be a rubble heap leftover, but a pile of rubble is less of a hazard than a perpetually burning, ready to collapse house. Would there be any real legal repercussions on you and Bill?

You'd have just created excellent rat habitat. Not what you want next door.

**jackie5275** · June-30-09, 10:18 PM

Put up Tiger Stadium sign on it.

**lizaanne** · July-01-09, 08:20 AM

Thank you all for the practical advice - I hope to get going on this soon, I need to get out there and take photos, get addresses, etc. so that I can put the whole package together. I have a friend who is a photographer, I may ask her to help me in this.

**ghettopalmetto** · July-01-09, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by lizaanne

Thank you all for the practical advice - I hope to get going on this soon, I need to get out there and take photos, get addresses, etc. so that I can put the whole package together. I have a friend who is a photographer, I may ask her to help me in this.

Start a preservation group to rebuild the houses. George Jackson will be over there in a heartbeat.

**Beech Cricker** · July-01-09, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

Start a preservation group to rebuild the houses. George Jackson will be over there in a heartbeat.

Ha! You beat me to it. I was thinking the same.

**skyl4rk** · July-01-09, 08:01 PM

To do it right, you need to:

Disconnect and bulkhead [[plug) water and sewer.
Disconnect gas at the main.
Remove the debris
Break the foundation apart [[near the surface)
Punch a few holes in the basement floor to make sure it doesn't fill with water.
Fill it with clean fill dirt.

Cities are generally held to higher standards. If you were to take up a collection to just get it done without permits, you could probably hire someone to bulldoze the structure into the basement and cover it with dirt.