Huntington puts 18 sites on blighted list

The Huntington Town Board has designated 18 properties as blighted and placed them on the town's list of properties that must be cleaned up or have fines attached to the owners' tax bills.

"If these homes are left in total disrepair, the value of the surrounding properties are affected," board member Susan Berland said. "If people are going to abandon their properties, it's up to the town to do what we can to help the surrounding homeowners."

A law adopted in July assigned points and fines to a variety of blight conditions. Violations of town codes, for example, garner 50 points and graffiti, 10 points. The owner of a property that receives 100 points faces an annual fee attached to the town tax bill -- $5,000 for commercial properties and $2,500 for residential -- until the problems are addressed.

Owners of the 18 properties were notified between last summer and December that their properties had scored more than 100 points after inspections by code enforcement officers. Owners were given 30 days to correct the conditions or reach an agreement with the town to address the issues.

Nine of the properties are in Huntington Station, four are in Huntington, two in Dix Hills and one each in Greenlawn, Northport and East Northport.

The board's vote on Monday represented the first time those properties were officially declared blighted since the law was adopted. Owners have 10 days to either clean up their properties or develop a plan with the town.

A public hearing will be held on March 13 to consider allowing the town to clean up the properties and add that cost, along with an annual registration fee, to the owners' property tax bills.