May 13, 2011
LUCAS K. MURRAY Courier-Post Staff
Source: http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110513/NEWS01/105130366/Neighbors-see-empty-homes-tagged
Antonio Jimenez had sought to acquire or secure a vacant house on Concord Avenue. Mayor Dana Redd posted the property as abandoned Thursday. / LUCAS K. MURRAY/Courier-Post
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CAMDEN — Antonio Jimenez walks out of his Concord Avenue home each day and has to look at the attached vacant residence.
For 20 years it has sat empty -- an eyesore for residents.
It could be a matter of months before the dilapidated structure with its nearly collapsed porch, faded blue siding and boarded windows is occupied now that the city has placed it on a list of abandoned properties.
"I did everything I could to find a solution but the legal situation was too complex to fix on my own," Jimenez said through an interpreter.
"I realized I didn't have the power to fix the situation alone."
Jimenez faced one dead end after another trying to acquire the property next to his, or at least get it cleaned up and secured. Petitioning City Hall didn't work. Nor did efforts to purchase the vacant property, which carried significant tax debt.
The structure is one of 59 buildings in Camden's Cramer Hill section that could be claimed by developers through the Abandoned Property Act. The act has only been utilized a handful of times.
Among the measures in the city's abandoned property toolkit include tax foreclosure, tax sales, spot blight eminent domain and public purpose eminent domain.
Officials are planning to slap more bright orange stickers on vacant and abandoned properties notifying owners of the city's intentions.
"What happens after the orange signs go up is really the question," said Manuel Delgado, of the Cramer Hill Community Development Corporation.
"These buildings have been abandoned for some time."
The Cramer Hill CDC looks to rehab 20 housing units this year.
City Attorney Marc Riondino said residents notify the city of abandoned properties and officials then make a determination as to whether the structure is inhabited or not. Records are checked and an attempt is made to notify the owner of the property. Owners have 30 days to appeal the city's decision.
"The end result is it's going to be someone living in that house or a new business in the city of Camden and it's going to be a tax ratable," Riondino said.
Mayor Dana Redd said Thursday that in order to move Camden forward, the issue of blighted and abandoned properties needs to be addressed. She noted in the past four weeks, the city has processed 91 properties and of that number, 59 made the list.
"These are the properties that we'll be looking to take back to improve our neighborhoods to assist in the implementation of the Cramer Hill Redevelopment Plan," Redd explained.
"We want our neighborhoods back and we want them back now."
Father Jud Weiksnar, a member of Camden Churches Organized for People and pastor at nearby St. Anthony of Padua Church, knows the issue of abandoned properties all too well.
Buildings in his neighborhood have collapsed or been burned down as part of neglect and turf wars in recent years.
"It's one step of 154 here in Cramer Hill," he said. "But you have to start with the first step."
Reach Lucas K. Murray at (856) 486-2476 or lkmurray@gannett.com
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