Woodcreek paying to fix blight house: City can recoup money when home is sold
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Editor's Note: Due to space limitations, this article was cut short in the April 17 edition of the Wimberley View, so it has been placed here in its entirety for free.
By Dalton Sweat
Editor
A house in Woodcreek on Augusta Drive has fallen into disrepair after a decade of being forgotten. The city of Woodcreek is now taking matters into its own hands to bring the house back up to safety standards.
“When one house is allowed to deteriorate, it affects the values of every other home on the block, neighborhood and community, and so they enact laws that require the expected level of care,” Woodcreek City Manager John Sone said.
The homeowner passed away years ago, and apparently, the estate has forgotten about the property. The city has already placed leans on the house to pay for years of mowing the lawn. They plan to do so again, so that when the house is sold, the city would recoup the money spent.
According to city officials, the house’s deterioration has created some health hazards.
The property has a green house in the backyard with holes in that have become “a haven for health vectors,” according to Sone. The deck is “unsafe,” the hot tub is collecting and retaining rain and the roof and eaves are falling apart.
The estimated cost of repair is around $5,000.
“This is one of the reasons why people choose to incorporate as a city,” Sone said. “It’s to have a common set of standards to hold each other to. Deed restrictions make sure that each person fulfills their responsibility.”
Some at the meeting were not pleased with the decision believing that it would be a waste of taxpayer money.
In February, the city voted to require the repairs to be made by April. When the repairs were not made, the law allows the city to make them.
Sone said that he believes this will be the first time the city’s substandard building ordinances will be used.
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