One characteristic shared by cities and towns almost everywhere in the United States is that almost all have houses that once sheltered families, storefronts that once housed businesses, or other structures that once had a significant purpose. These buildings, once in disuse, start to break down over time as water, fluctuations in temperature, wind, or even damage from vandalism or illicit use render them unusable, unattractive, and, worst of all, unsafe.
West Virginia University’s BAD Buildings program helps municipalities and other rural communities statewide with this issue because it “provides technical assistance, research, and other resources to rural communities to address abandoned and dilapidated properties.”
Representatives from the program came to Franklin last week. The Town of Franklin, Mon Forest Towns, and other entities have come together in partnership to examine where Franklin could need help in addressing such structures.
Attendees gathered in the new office of emergency management conference room at the old Franklin Elementary School, now the Pendleton County General Services Building. Michelle Connor, representing Mon Forest Towns, pointed out that the building itself represented a success story.
“It’s the perfect example of identifying a . . . vacant building (with) a handful of things that make it unattractive to private investment,” explained Connor, who added that the renovation came as a result of a convergence of vision and community need.
Ray Moeller, from the WVU BAD Buildings program, noted that “any rescue of an old school is a win.”
Buildings in a state of blight tend to produce negative ripple effects in a community. They create health and safety hazards that can include toxic materials in the structure itself, water accumulation attracting vermin and noxious insects, and that they may attract curious children or criminal elements to explore or hide inside.
Effects radiate from blight that depress property values, reduce tax revenues, and hamper economic growth, according to information provided by the program.
Jared Stewart, also representing the BAD Buildings program, explained that the program differs greatly from zoning and code enforcement efforts. Municipalities and counties may pass zoning or dilapidated structures ordinances that identify such structures and impose punitive sanctions, such as fines, for buildings and properties whose condition falls below legally established standards.
Stewart shared that BAD Buildings program operates on “community buy-in to keep the effort sustainable.”
In Franklin, the effort has nearly completed phase one. That entails forming and training a BAD Buildings team. The team then travels the area and identifies potential problem structures. Franklin’s team formed a list of just under 40 properties “that may be vacant in your community.” Then, according to a document about program progress in Franklin “the next step is to prioritize the properties” with “an objective process for addressing one property over another.”
It then explained the rating system volunteers will use to analyze each property and the priority that should be placed on maintaining and/or redeveloping it.
Those properties are placed on a spreadsheet that allows for the rating of its health and safety level, historical value, visibility, whether or not the property owner wants to work with the team, the potential for successful redevelopment and reuse, and costs and resources that can go toward repairs or demolition.
Ensuring community buy-in, explained Stewart, means keeping participation voluntary. He informed the group that “if you don’t want your property on the list, contact us and we can take it off. If you don’t want a building demolished, it won’t be.”
Success also comes when the teams “meets property owners where they are at.”
Phase two focuses on creating a redevelopment plan, then implementing it. This includes plans to howe to redevelop and reuse both structures and vacant lots. This “varies from site to site and is often based on community needs.”
Of course, funding remains one of the biggest needs in redevelopment and reuse projects. Technical assistance from the BAD Buildings program helps to pull together funding and other assistance to complete the project. This assistance can include site reviews, grant writing assistance, community engagement and vision creation, completing an inventory of brownfield sites, resource identification, and education.
