BANGOR, Maine — June Commeau lives across the street from a longstanding Essex Street eyesore.
“That place has been a horror show since the day we moved in,” she said during a recent interview in her home, where she has lived for 39 years. “This is depreciating our property — having that there.”
The house at 472 Essex St. has been empty since at least 2010, when its water service was shut off. The tattered remnants of blue tarps still cling to the roof but no longer do much to keep out the rain and ice melt. Built in 1880, according to city records, the large home is a dangerous shell of the impressive structure it once was. This could be the year it is torn down, according to city officials.
“We have buildings that are bringing down neighborhoods,” Jeremy Martin, director of code enforcement in Bangor, said. “This is an eyesore for the community. Everyone knows about the building on Essex Street with the blue tarp.”
The house’s foundation is failing, and it has other structural issues caused by water damage. Building inspectors haven’t gone far into the building to look at it because they were concerned about their safety, Martin said.
“We’ve determined it’s unsafe, unstable, unsanitary,” he added.
Neighbors have long complained about the building, and regularly contact the city to ask that it be torn down.
Commeau said the house was a regular retreat for squatters until the city boarded it up. The grass was overgrown. The torn blue tarp on the roof has been shedding pieces, which blow onto neighboring lawns. The neighbors are sick of picking them up.
She said she and her neighbors would be thrilled to see it come down this year. She joked it wouldn’t take much to tear it down.
“You could probably just blow on it and it might fall down,” she said.
In October, the City Council named the building a public safety hazard, allowing the city to start the process of taking ownership and putting it on track for demolition.
The building’s owners, listed in tax documents as Richard and Jessica Moore, have been notified of the city’s decision and plans to demolish the building, according to Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas. Attempts to reach the Moores this week were unsuccessful.
The city’s efforts have been hindered by trying to notify companies in Tennessee and Texas that hold mortgage interests in the home, Nicklas said. However, sheriffs in those towns won’t serve paperwork unless it comes from the court, so the city has to involve the courts.
“This is an issue we haven’t run into before,” Nicklas said.
The four-unit apartment building has an assessed value of about $124,000, and the land it sits on is worth $43,400, according to tax documents.
In 2014, the city launched a new, council-backed push to crack down on run-down, dangerous properties and tax-delinquent owners. Before that, the city had a policy of not taking properties. As a result, some property owners accrued tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes.
Last year, the city took over seven properties that were either seriously tax delinquent or deemed dangerous. Six of the homes — 5 Grove Street Court, 12 North St., 44 Patten St., 65 Curve St., 76 Market St. and 171 Garland St. — were torn down. A small home at 130 Thirteenth St. was taken over for back taxes and sold by the city.
Last month, the city also sold the lot that used to be home to 147 Court St. to an abutting property owner after demolishing the apartment building in 2014.
These efforts to deal with abandoned, neglected properties and to go after property owners who haven’t been paying taxes are expected to continue. City officials have said dangerous properties drive down property values, degrade neighborhoods, present fire hazards and provide a haven for squatters and illegal activity.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.