Politics & Government
Abandoned Property Ordinance Reviewed In Howell
The Mayor and Council were provided with an update on the township's ordinance, which addresses buildings that appear to be abandoned.
HOWELL, NJ — The Howell Township Council received an update on the township's land use ordinance, which addresses buildings that appear to be abandoned during a council meeting earlier in March.
During the meeting, Howell Township Land Use Director Matt Howard addressed the council and discussed the ordinance's history and goals. The program, which began in 2018, focuses on property owners who have allowed their structures to degrade.
The abandoned property ordinance creates a registry of properties that are in violation, Howard said. “Ultimately once you add a property onto the registry it stays there, and there are some additional opportunities for a third party to come in and take ownership or potentially do clean-up.”
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Howard further explained that the goal of the program is not to simply “knock down houses” but instead to rehabilitate those properties.
If officials declare a structure uninhabitable or unsafe to the public, they can use the ordinance to call a public meeting and notify the owner. The township would then give the property owner a predetermined time period to “remediate, rehabilitate, or demolish the structure.”
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“Not all of these properties are truly abandoned,” Howard said. “Sometimes the people have fallen on hard times. A lot of the time they’re still paying the taxes because they’re trying to keep the property in their ownership.”
During the meeting, Howard mentioned two abandoned homes on the south side of the road near the Pointe O' Woods development, as well as a stretch of buildings on the north side of the street, both of which had been highlighted by residents.“We’ve gotten several complaints in the past about that,” Howard said. “That’s one of those that should be demolished. There’s also a whole other set of issues on the north side of that road. There are about ten to fifteen bungalows, an old hoarding situation, several other structures, and they’re all falling down. There’s no question they meet the criteria for demolition.”
Since structures built before 1950 are more likely to contain asbestos and lead paint, the demolition cost for that project is estimated to be between $100,000 and $200,000 dollars, said Howard.
The department's budget may be discussed further at the next Howell Township budget meeting.
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