Yakima To Address Dangerous Properties In City

When a building is abandoned it can attract a whole bunch of different problems say Yakima Police and code enforcement officials. That's why the Yakima City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve a new program to address a long list of abandoned properties in yakima that officials like city codes Manager Joe Carusso say are big headaches for local officials and a safety problem for everyone. "The police, codes and fire department are going back to these places. We board them up. People go back in again and again." Carusso has a specific list of 22 of the most problem properties out of a list of 123 in the city. And the program that the city council is being asked to approve is to spend $100,000 in tax dollars cleaning up the properties. The plan is to give property owners the option of paying for demolition or a fix up of the property. If the city funds the work it will place a lien against the property. The property owner will have 10 days to appeal the action to the city board of appeals.  The city council meets at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow at city hall.