Demolition Program Cleaning Up The Town

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By Kyle Trompeter

Summary

The mold is just covering the house like a blanket. Nobody lives here anymore, and tearing it down isn't as easy as it used to be.

Story Published: Dec 17, 2009 at 6:24 PM PST

PENDLETON - The mold is just covering the house like a blanket. Nobody lives here anymore, and tearing it down isn't as easy as it used to be.

"Years ago I could just jump in and tear a building down and not have to do anything - no permits, no nothing. Now you can't even touch a building without having an environmental study done first on inside and outside of the building," said Developer Darrell Simpson.

Because of that, houses like these have become abandoned and forgotten. Now Pendleton says enough is enough.

"The Urban Renewal District will pay for the demolition if the property owner agrees to rebuild within 18 months and have it three times the value of the current building," said City Manager Larry Lehman.

That shouldn't be hard to do considering the state of some of these places. We talked to one potential owner who said he wasn't interested in buying old property before, but now that he won't have to pay for the demo - he's in.

"They've made it so anyone that wants to buy a property or build on a property, lease it or whatever, we can now just dive right in and start building," said Simpson.

"I have three property owners that we're talking to now about tearing down a couple of old dilapidated homes that are abandoned and build a full plex there. Another wants to tear down a house to put in an office building," said Lehman.

It's new expansion for an old town.