Knoxville does have a very real problem with blighted properties but David Brace is right----they don't need more inspectors. The existing inspectors are doing a great job.

The solution is very simple:

1. Better Building Board (BBB) declares property blighted and gives owner 90 days to correct or make substantial progress.
2. If after 90 days, progress has not been made, the property is "certified" as blighted & the owner given another 90 days.
3. If after the aforementioned 180 days, the problem hasn't been resolved, the City demolished the blighted property and puts a lien against the resulting vacant lot.
4. If the property is in a historic overlay, the property goes to Council for acquisition and is placed in the HomeMaker Program.

Problem Solved.

Joseph D. Bailey would seem to me to be an extremely common name, so it could easily be someone else. However, I would also think that a name that matches a public figure would automatically be something that they would want to check. You don't want the possibility of something like that happening to trip you up in your reporting that's for sure.

so it could easily be someone else

If they live at the same address as the councilman, I guess.

It may be something he inherited. From the description it doesn't sound like something that would be easy to sell. So he sent a contractor over to work on it? Interesting that the contractor reported more problems. My guess is he was trying to get money to tear it down???

I just went back and read Bubba's initial post more closely. Yes, it does sound like it is the same Joe Bailey. I was skimming earlier. And it does sound like Rebecca F. needs to have a little conversation with the councilman.

A shame the local paper didn't give proper credit to this web site for breaking the news.

(link...)

Apparently it's the tenant's fault.

Maybe he had some tenants who quit paying rent and then trashed the place. Even so, it's hard to imagine how they caused "severe termite damage, water damage to load-bearing walls and improper roof framing" in the six months between March and September.

Why does the City simply not raze non-historic structures which are certified blighted? The system works up until that point. David Brace is right on the money----no new inspectors are needed----just raze the properties which have been certified as blighted. Again----problem solved.

Because a street with a lot of missing houses is like a gap-tooth smile.

People are still moving to Knoxville so there could be a demand for these houses in the future. Do you remember what 4th & Gill looked like 30 years ago? It wasn't a historic district then.

There seems to be a move afoot to clear the titles of houses that have gone through the tax sales. These are homes that are truly abandoned (well I know of one example where the responsible brother abandoned the house to his irresponsible brother but that is an oddity). This would help a lot to make investment available for this housing stock.