Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce discusses blighted properties at the site of a recently demolished house at 1117 33rd St. in Parkersburg. (Photo by James Dobbs)

PARKERSBURG — Mayor Tom Joyce announced Monday that 178 blighted properties have been torn down in the city, with more on the way.

State Auditor John “JB” McCuskey, state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and Delegate Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, visited Joyce and city officials in Parkersburg Monday to discuss blighted buildings and Senate Bill 548.

“Slum and blighted properties have been a problem for Parkersburg for a number of years,” said Joyce. “I am proud to announce as of this morning, since I’ve been mayor we’ve torn down 178 slum and blighted properties in the city limits of Parkersburg but it doesn’t come without a process and a price.”

Joyce said the city has spent almost $2 million removing these properties. There are nine more properties scheduled to be torn down in mid-April.

Joyce said the vacant lot officials visited Monday at 1117 33rd St. had been abandoned for several years and was a nuisance to the neighborhood receiving 19 calls for service over 30 days relating to trespassing, overdoses and multiple vagrants going in and out of the home at all hours of the day.

The city of Parkersburg recently demolished a house at 1117 33rd St. This is the lot after the demolition. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Through city process and state funding the city was able to remediate the property and turn it into a lot for future development, he said. The property is located in an R-3 (residential) zoning district and can be redeveloped for a single family dwelling, multi-family dwellings, institutional or residential care communities in the future.

“Three years ago, Senator Weld and I undertook to completely reform the dilapidated building process in West Virginia. What we found, as the mayor said, this is a statewide problem,” said McCuskey. “West Virginia University estimates there’s somewhere between $400 million and $500 million worth of blighted buildings that need to be torn down in West Virginia.”

SB 548, which will go into effect on June 9, will improve the State Auditor’s property tax sale process, clean up slum and blight in communities and ensure countries that wish to do America harm are banned from buying tax sale properties and mineral interests in West Virginia, said a press release from McCuskey’s office.

McCuskey said the bill bans nations designated as a “country of particular concern” by the U.S. State Department from buying real estate through the West Virginia property tax sale. This will help protect mineral interests, farmland and other real estate in West Virginia from being sold to the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, among other countries.

McCuskey said SB 548 will reorganize the way bids occur at the property tax sale to ensure bidders want to increase the quality of life to the area and aren’t motivated by profit or criminal activity.

State Auditor John “JB” McCuskey discusses Senate Bill 548 at the site of a recently demolished house at 1117 33rd St. in Parkersburg. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Weld said this part of the bill will help weed out individuals who are fraudulent, people who engage in illegal activity, as well as people who just purchase properties to make a quick buck.

The registry will ensure those who have neglected properties and created dangerous situations in one community aren’t able to do the same in another community, said the press release. Bidders will not be able to bid if they have failed to make a payment owed at a prior auction, are delinquent in the payment of property taxes, have a history of noncompliance with building code enforcement, or have failed to comply with a valid raze or repair order.

In 2022, SB 552 was the first major revamp to the property tax process in over 30 years, said the press release. It sped up the ability to redeem property and helped ensure properties don’t become delinquent during the redemption period. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection allocated $10 million to local communities to help tear down dilapidated structures.

Since SB 552’s passage, more than 19 communities have been able to tear down properties that have posed fire risks and nuisances for years. Its success has garnered an additional $20 million allocation, which will be available July 2023.

James Dobbs can be reached at jdobbs@newsandsentinel.com

Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce, right, talks to state Senator Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, middle, and State Auditor JB McCuskey, left, about houses in the city of Parkersburg. (Photo by James Dobbs)