Park View, D.C.

DCRA recently released its bi-annual vacant property list.  The  DCRA Office of Vacant Property web page has the complete lists of vacant and blighted property as well as additional information on how to report  such properties. In determining whether a building is vacant, DCRA must consider whether the building has:

• low or no utilities usage;
• an accumulation of mail;
• a lack of furniture or window coverings;
• open accessibility;
• deferred maintenance, including loose or falling gutters, severe paint chipping, or overgrown grass;
• been the subject of neighbor complaints about the property; and
• been boarded up.

For those who are not familiar with the DCRA lists, the properties on them are not D.C. owned.  They are privately owned.  DCRA’s job is to enforce a set of regulations on  the owners that makes it hard for them to own a vacant property.  Vacant properties tax rates change from .85 cents per $100 of assessed value, to $5 per $100 of assessed value.  Blighted property tax rates are $10.

In comparing vacant and blighted property in the Park View area from March 2012 to August 2012, the following changes are noted:

• There are currently 10 blighted properties compared to 9 in March;
• There are currently 16 vacant properties compared to 32 in March;
• 24 properties — 22 vacant and 2 blighted — have been removed from the list in the last 6 months;
• 2 properties — 1 vacant and 1 blighted — were returned to the lists after having been removed; and,
• 7 properties — 5 vacant and 2 blighted — were new to the lists

Below is a map showing where the vacant (green) and blighted (red) properties are in Park View. Sites in yellow indicate vacant and blighted properties that have been removed from the list since March 2012. Properties in purple were on the list in 2011 or earlier.

DCRA has just released its bi-annual vacant property list.  You can view the entire list for the first half of 2012 here. The  DCRA Office of Vacant Property web page also has additional information on how to report  vacant and blighted properties. In determining whether a building is vacant, DCRA must consider whether the building has:

• low or no utilities usage;
• an accumulation of mail;
• a lack of furniture or window coverings;
• open accessibility;
• deferred maintenance, including loose or falling gutters, severe paint chipping, or overgrown grass;
• been the subject of neighbor complaints about the property; and
• been boarded up.

For those who are not familiar with the DCRA lists, the properties on them are not D.C. owned.  They are privately owned.  DCRA’s job is to enforce a set of regulations on  the owners that makes it hard for them to own a vacant property.  Vacant properties tax rates change from .85 cents per $100 of assessed value, to $5 per $100 of assessed value.  Blighted property tax rates are $10.

In comparing vacant and blighted property in the Park View area from August 2011 to March 2012, the following changes are noted:

• There are currently 9 blighted properties compared to 12 in August;
• There are currently 32 vacant properties compared to 20 in August;
• 12 properties — 8 vacant and 4 blighted — have been removed from the list in the last 6 months;
• 5 properties currently classified as blighted were on the August list; and
• 11 properties currently classified as vacant were on the August list.

Below is a map of where the vacant (green) and blighted (red) properties are in Park View. Sites in yellow indicate vacant and blighted properties that have been removed from the list since August 2011.