According to Huntwick resident Mary Joseph, the vacant office building is located at 4702 FM 1960 W., Houston, and has been in decline for eight years.
“We just want properties like this taken care of,” she said. “This isn’t the only property; there’s a lot of properties that are in very, very poor condition, but this one continues to be the most egregious.”
Community Impact Newspaper previously reported on the graffiti-covered, trash-ridden building in August 2018 after Harris County Public Health determined the building was in compliance with health codes and an investigation was closed July 27.
At that time, law enforcement officials, who were conducting security checks on the property twice daily described it as a “breeding ground for crime.”
“How heartbroken the community would be if a first responder doing rounds in that building was injured in any kind of serious way? ... Because it’s absolutely preventable,” Joseph said.
As of Nov. 1, Capt. Willard Rogers, who serves on the Harris County Sheriff’s Office District 1 patrol duty, said Harris County Public Health had opened another case against the property. According to Rogers, the department is required to give property owners legal notice of the investigation and must allow 30 days for violations to be corrected.
As of Nov. 15, Rogers said his nuisance abatement deputy had met with the property owner on-site while he corrected the most recent violations, which included boarding up windows. Rogers said he suspects the investigation will once again be closed following the property owner’s compliance.
“Everybody hates that property, but it’s somebody’s property, and as long as they keep it in compliance there’s not a whole lot we can do,” Rogers said. “Last I heard, they’re still trying to sell the property, so until they do, we’ll keep checking on it. But right now, they seem to be cooperating.”
Rogers said his unit routinely checks on the property as it falls within its patrol area; however, the unit does not have a dedicated person to check on the property on a daily basis. He added the biggest concern with nuisance buildings such as the one on FM 1960 is trespassing.
In hopes of creating change, Joseph and other community volunteers drafted a petition demanding that the building either be renovated and restored, or razed and made ready as a vacant lot for sale. Joseph said the volunteer group is hoping to submit the petition to local elected officials and Harris County entities that could incite change in January. As of Nov. 21, the petition had 600 signatures.
“We just want them to know they have the community’s support to use codes that are in place to either change the building so it’s brought to habitable conditions or demolish the building, if necessary,” she said. “We’re not trying to hurt anybody, but we’re really getting hurt at this point.”
