Time is up for boarded-up, Ike-damaged homes

CLEAR LAKE SHORES — Residents have complained for months the city should do something about several homes still boarded up almost two years after Hurricane Ike.

The Clear Lake Shores city council on July 6 passed an ordinance that requires businesses or homeowners to either repair or demolish homes that were damaged by the storm.

City officials, before the ordinance, had no clout to require property owners to take action on storm-damaged structures.

“The new ordinance gives us more teeth,” City Administrator Paul Shelley said. “The other ordinance allowed for boarded-up structures as long as they were secure.”

After receiving a notice, property owners will have 90 days to inform the city of their plans to repair, demolish or appeal the decision.

The ordinance will affect seven structures, including The Sandbar, a former pub near the police station in the 700 block of Clear Lake Road.

Other structures include storage sheds and rental homes owned by people who live out of the area, Shelley said.

Once the city determines a structure is uninhabitable, the city will mail a letter to every financial party notifying them of the ordinance’s requirements.

The city will tear down a structure and place a lien on the property if the owner does not respond to the notice, Clear Lake Shores Building Official Jack Fryday said.