CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — City leaders and community members are coming together to brainstorm over abandoned and deteriorating properties.
The Charleston Land Reuse Agency hosted a roundtable on Tuesday focused on promoting redevelopment across the city.
Officials said many of the city’s vacant homes and lots have become places for pests, illegal dumping and fires. This is a problem they hope to eliminate through coordinated action.
John Butterworth, senior planner with the Charleston Land Reuse Agency, spoke about problem properties in the area.
“We know that we need to remove unsafe structures,” Butterworth said. “We need to reduce the likelihood of fires and property crime that sometimes goes along with abandonment. Those strategies are partly the work here.”
“A land bank program really is about trying to get property that the private sector can’t and won’t touch and get it back out there into the world so it can start doing good again for the community,” he said.
City leaders said redevelopment efforts often stay stagnant due to financial and regulatory barriers. They hope that by working together with developers, those roadblocks can be removed to make new projects possible.
