County: 200 properties should be destroyed

Of all the eyesores in unincorporated areas of the county, a storm-damaged motel and convenience store hit by Hurricane Ike have generated the most complaints countywide.

The motel, among the first structures to greet visitors disembarking a Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry, is on the countys radar, along with some 200 properties that should be demolished, said Garrett Foskit, the countys nuisance abatement officer.

The Bolivar Peninsula was ground zero for Ike, which made landfall Sept. 13, 2008, causing widespread flooding and damaging much of the Upper Texas Coast. It swept 3,600 structures from foundations on the peninsula.

We do receive a ton of complaints of the Fishermans Cove motel, Foskit said. We recently went to the justice of the peace court and had the entire motel boarded up. Before, it was wide open for transients, animals ... and we had all sorts of issues with it.

Homeless beach dwellers squatted there before it recently was boarded up, Foskit said.

The owner is going through the permitting process, trying to sell it or reopen it, Foskit said. The process, however, could take longer than residents would like, he said.

The county determined it can issue a repair permit on the structure, county Engineer Mike Fitzgerald said.

We are waiting on the applicant to pay the permit fee, and then we will issue the permit, Fitzgerald said.

Storm damage was less than half the value of the structure, Fitzgerald said, meaning it wouldnt have to be elevated to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines.

Galveston County Commissioner Pat Doyle, who represents the peninsula and Bay Shore, said some owners collected insurance money on their storm-damaged properties and left them in disrepair.

Those that have left their houses in blight conditions, were having to file on them and go through the due process, Doyle said. Nuisance abatement with due process through justice of the peace courts is a slow, arduous process.

Another property on the top-complaint list is a residence in San Leon, Foskit said.

The person hasnt done anything since Hurricane Ike, Foskit said. Its wide open, and there are dead trees in the yard.

Foskit estimated there are 200 properties in the county that should be demolished.

I have an annual budget that I can get rid of 10 to 15 on average, Foskit said. Thats 10 or 15 years worth of work in order to clean up those 200 properties.

Another property on 19th Street between League City and Dickinson, which The Daily News wrote about Dec. 22, 2007, still contains mounds of junk and debris extending from the right of way of a dirt road deep into the woods.

The property is somewhat more tidy of a junkyard since The Daily News story published nearly four years ago. Shells of automobiles, a boat, tires and construction material lined the roadway. The at least partially demolished home still was there.

The county, however, received no complaints on the property because it is out of the way, Foskit said.

Foskit estimated in 2007 it could cost the county $20,000 to clean up.

I spoke with the man and tried to get it cleaned up, but hes a collector and scrapper, Foskit said. Theres not near as much junk on the road as before, and he did remove an awful lot of it. Before, you couldnt get down the road. Things have improved.