In case you haven’t noticed, Marcellus has a blight problem.
Blight: 1) a thing that spoils, damages, or has a severely detrimental effect on something, 2) a deteriorated condition, 3) something that impairs or destroys.
According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Blighted properties decrease surrounding property values, erode the health of local housing markets, pose safety hazards, and reduce local tax revenue.”
It’s confounding to think that a property owner would not take the issue of blight seriously. It is difficult to fathom that someone would purchase a property and not work to increase its value. Creating safety hazards for surrounding neighbors and the community in general is inexcusable, and reduced tax revenue results in fewer services.
Where is Lady Bird Johnson when you need her?
For those unfamiliar with the mid-20th century, Lady Bird Johnson was the First Lady of the United States (1963-1969). She was a champion of environmental efforts and advocate of beautification.
“Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me…beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.” – Lady Bird Johnson
On January 10, 2023, the Marcellus Village Council declared its determination to increase the quality of life for all residents by getting aggressive about blight infractions.
“How can we get more aggressive with these blight infractions?” Village President Dennis Irwin asks. “Some require only a courtesy visit, but we’re getting to the point on a lot of these that that doesn’t work. Are we going to get real aggressive or not. It doesn’t seem to be working the way we’re headed.”
Ordinance Enforcement Officer Mike Haydon reported to the Council during its January 10 meeting on current efforts to clean-up blight violations on W. Arbor Street, which is target number one on his list of properties in violation of Village Ordinances.
“This is going to be a lot more expensive [than the property on Worden Street],” Haydon says, “because there’s a lot more junk.”
Due to the amount of ‘junk’ that needs to be removed, Haydon says an excavator is needed, because “this isn’t one where you bring in a trailer and throw everything in it. We’ll need a bobcat to help load.”
And who pays for all the clean-up?
If you’re a resident of the Village of Marcellus, you do.
The process of eliminating blight through the proper channels of the Cass County legal system can be cumbersome, time consuming and expensive. Once Haydon writes a ticket for blight violations, he says “it’s out of my hands.”
Haydon explained that once a ticket is written, the property owner has ten days to respond. Similar to a traffic ticket, the violator may request an informal hearing to dispute the violation. If the property owner does not make that request, the magistrate issues a compliance order instructing the owner they must clean up the property, usually within thirty days. If the property is not cleaned up sufficiently within the thirty days, Haydon refers the issue to the attorney who then makes a request for the issue to go in front of the judge. The judge issues a judgement allowing the Village to clean up the property, but most likely the permission is not granted immediately to the municipality. Many times, the property owner is given an additional thirty days to comply. If that deadline is not met, then the municipality is granted the authority to get quotes, award a contract, and oversee clean-up of the property.
And who pays for this process?
If you’re a resident of the Village of Marcellus, you do.
The cost of clean-up is fronted 100% by the Village. Even though the cost is added to the owner’s property tax bill, it does not mean the Village will recoup the costs. Too often that portion of the property tax is never paid, and the Village eats the cost.
The use of taxpayers’ dollars for this issue is of great concern to Council President Dennis Irwin.
“My main concern is that it seems we’re getting an increase in the number of properties with blight issues. All this money we’re spending for blight is money that’s not being spent for other services for the community.”
Trustee Muriel Thomas echoed Irwin’s frustrations.
“We can’t try to beautify the downtown and then when you get away from the downtown it looks junky. Because of the property on Worden Street, a lot of people have the attitude that if their neighbor can live like that, they can do whatever they want.
“Everybody needs to clean up and take care of their property. We’ve got people who complain about it on Facebook. Instead of that, tell your neighbors, ‘Clean up your stuff.’”
Trustee George Markle expressed concerns about the proximity of the property on Arbor Street to the elementary school.
“Where it is near the school, you have people who don’t live in the village that are driving past and seeing that. It is not a good reflection on the community.”
Trustee Sarah Engstrom wants residents to feel secure throughout community.
“If you’re living in that area, you want to be comfortable going outside and enjoying your property. You get to the point where you don’t want to go out.”
The next step, as far as the Arbor Street property is concerned, is getting quotes to do the clean-up. Haydon estimates that the project could cost approximately $5,000.
“My guess it’s going to be about four to five thousand dollars or more. I just did one in Flowerfield Township, and it was 48-hundred dollars, and it wasn’t quite as bad as the one on Arbor.”
According to Village Manager/Clerk Jacqueline Terrill, the Council has increased its fight-blight budget significantly, but without compliance from residents, the issue can sometimes go in circles.
“When they [property owner] don’t pay back the costs, we’re going to wait two to three years to get that money back. Then when we clean up the next one, it will be expensive, and then we’re going to wait on repayment for that one as well. And once it’s cleaned up, they make a mess again, and then the process starts all over again.”
“It’s not that this problem affects just one property,” Irwin says. “It affects the property values in the whole neighborhood and the town in general.”
Perhaps 2023, then, is a good time for some community pride and personal responsibility.
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Village ordinances are available online at https://villageofmarcellus.org or by contacting Village Hall, 269-646-5485.
Ordinance No. 219 addresses vehicle storage and repair, and limits the “unreasonable accumulation of junk;” Ordinance No. 220 addresses litter, and limits the “unreasonable accumulation of junk;” and just as a reminder, Ordinance No. 222 addresses Noxious Weed and Uncontrolled Plant Growth “to secure the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Village of Marcellus.”
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