MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The current total of 107 vacant properties in the city of Morgantown are creating challenges for city workers, police and neighborhoods.
To meet the Morgantown City Code definition of vacant, the property must be empty for 90 days.
Director of Code Enforcement in Morgantown, Mike Stone they do their best to limit risks and keep neighborhoods safe.
“A lot of the vacant structures within walking distance of downtown, people that find out they are vacant and take up residence in these buildings,”Stone said,”I think that’s the biggest concern.”
Stone says they discover vacant properties from people in neighborhoods, regular code enforcement patrols and information developed by police. Stone says from that information they have found vacant properties that require extensive repairs, one extreme case includes a structure falling off of the foundation.
Property owners are expected to keep vacant properties secure or board them up, but Stone says it doesn’t always work that way.
Stone says when they receive a vacant property report they have police to clear the building to remove people that are allegedly squatting. Once the building is unoccupied they sometimes have to board the property up themselves.
“We went over within 15 minutes of getting the call the building was cleared and started boarding a structure back up,”Stone said,”As my guys were putting the last screw in the plywood they heard someone inside yelling, let me outta here, let me outta here.”
Stone laments, it’s a continuing problem.
“We have boarded up several ourselves, my guys will go out and find one that’s vacant with vagrants in it, the police will clear the building and we take over plywood, screw guns and screws to secure the building,”Stone said,”But, tomorrow we get a complaint that the building is open and occupied again.”
Stone says the problem quickly becomes a health safety issue for workers in the code enforcement division.
“The needle problem is a big problem, a very big problem,”Stone said,”Some of these places they take squatters rights and they have no utilities, so they build a little fire to keep warm and there’s another hazard.”
Stone was adamant in asserting most landlords are good people that follow the rules and provide safe housing for residents and students. However, some property owners use the appeal process and other loopholes to avoid or stall when work on properties is ordered because of safety concerns or code violations.
In 2019 the city was able to raze 18 vacant structures.