LEWISTON – Code enforcement officials will begin inspecting about 40 buildings downtown this summer to persuade landlords to fix them and repair unsafe situations.
City Administrator Jim Bennett announced the effort Thursday, saying it begins next month with five of the worst-rated buildings downtown. Councilors are scheduled to vote to begin condemning two buildings, at 297 and 299 Bates St., on May 17.
City staff rated those and three others as being in very poor shape in an informal survey this year. The old St. Dominic’s Regional High building is also among the five worst, as are two four-unit apartment buildings at 227 Blake St.
City councilors will consider buying the St. Dom’s building for $200,000 on Tuesday. Staff will work with owners of the 227 Blake St. buildings to see if they can be repaired. If not, the city will condemn those buildings as well.
Staff rated another 38 buildings in the downtown area as being in “poor” shape. Gil Arsenault, city planning and code enforcement director, said his staff would begin inspecting those buildings this summer. Landlords will be required to fix safety problems, he said.
“We hope to be able to come back in a year and say that we’ve been in all of them,” Arsenault said.
The properties are all within the Heritage Initiative area. That includes buildings along Pierce, Blake, Bates and Knox streets and Walnut, Spruce, Birch and Maple streets.
“We don’t expect them to finish upgrades in 30 days,” Arsenault said. “But we do expect landlords to make plans.”
This kind of effort wasn’t possible in Lewiston before property values began to increase, Bennett said.
“When property values were low, say $5,000 per unit, people would rather abandon the building rather than face doing $30,000 worth of repairs,” Bennett said. “We didn’t want people to just start turning in their keys.”
Some properties are worth between $30,000 and $50,000 per unit now, Bennett said, with entire buildings worth $250,000.
“It’s pretty clear that people won’t abandon their properties now, so we can afford to turn up the heat,” Bennett said.
Bennett said the city would work with tenants if it does condemn any buildings. He hopes the city’s pressure will persuade landlords to fix the buildings on their own.
“For the city to let the landlord continue to collect rent on those properties, we’re not doing the tenants any good,” Bennett said. “We’re not helping them by letting them stay in a dangerous situation.”
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