Highland officials monitoring vacant and foreclosed properties around town
Highland officials are keeping a close eye on foreclosed and abandoned homes within the city limits.
Once a month, Highland’s City Manager Mark Latham and Fire chief and Interim Director of Building and Zoning Brian Wilson meet with members of the city’s building and zoning division to discuss and track problem properties in the city.
While the problem isn’t rampant in Highland, Wilson said its important to keep an eye on the properties. In total, Wilson said the city monitors 22 foreclosed homes and larger number of homes that are at-risk..
The city tries to stay on top of properties with lawn issues as well, which sometimes is an early indication that a home has been abandoned.
“These things get brought to our attention when no ones taking care of the lawn,” Wilson said. “That’s generally our first indicator that we may have the start of an issue.”
Those homes are kept on a separate, larger list, which includes more than 60 buildings depending on the time of year. Wilson said when it’s warm out and grass is growing, neighbors are often more likely to report problems.
When a cosmetic problem is noticed or a neighbor complains, the city begins by reaching out to the property owners or banks who own the property to make sure plans are being made to keep the property
Wilson said it can be difficult to spot an abandoned home, because often, especially during colder months when the lawn isn’t growing, it’s hard to tell that no one’s home.
He said abandoned homes not only look bad, but also are a risk to property values and the overall safety of the neighborhood. While Highland hasn’t dealt with many safety problems, he said avoiding the possibility is important.
“We don’t want neighbors to have to put up with that and have to worry about their property values being compromised or having an unsafe condition in the neighborhood for whatever reason,” Wilson said. “That’s something we don’t want to see, so we can keep an eye on them to make sure they’re secure.”
The 22 different addresses that are foreclosed are scattered around various parts of towns. Latham said the city keeps an eye on the properties in case they go up for auction. In some cases, the buildings are torn down or sold to new property owners.
Many of the buildings fell into disrepair following the 2008 housing crisis, Latham said. Some of those properties are still on the city’s list. He said it can sometimes take years for anything to happen with the properties.
In a best case scenario, he said, the property is auctioned off and repurposed or demolished. But often the best the city can hope for is that the bank that owns the property keeps the property from becoming an eyesore or dangerous. In some cases the city has used legal remedies, when needed.
The city is currently working to demolish several properties along Main Street that had been abandoned for decades. Once demolished, a parking lot that is aimed to help with downtown parking will be constructed.
However, Latham said Highland is most likely ahead of the curve. He and Wilson agree most Illinois cities are dealing with the same issues with varying severity.
According to a Madison County Community Development study,there are roughly 10,800 vacant homes in the county. In Illinois as a whole, there are roughly 517,000 unoccupied homes.
“It’s no worse in a problem than anywhere else,” Wilson said. “Every community sees a degree of this. We’re just trying to manage this and not let it manage us.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 11:29 AM.