HOUSTON – A City of Houston program used to address neglected properties is currently paused, leaving some Midtown residents questioning what happens next as they continue reporting abandoned buildings they say have become safety concerns.
A city email sent to Midtown resident Theresa Florence confirms Houston has paused its visual blight abatements while officials update enforcement procedures. The city says inspectors can still issue violation notices, but the cleanup process residents have relied on to address certain property problems is currently unavailable.
For residents near Caroline, Tuam, and San Jacinto streets, they say the issue has moved beyond appearances.
“We’re dealing with a two block radius of abandoned commercial buildings that have been unsecured over the past several years,” Florence said. “We’ve been reporting it over and over because it had escalated from just an ugly blight issue to people living inside, to activities we assume are criminal.”
Residents say conditions have worsened
Florence says she and her neighbors have filed nearly 30 complaints over the past year and a half about several abandoned properties in the area.
She says neighbors have reported conditions including trash, feces, illegal dumping, and people entering the buildings.
“We’ve seen feces, we’ve seen trash, we seen high weeds,” Florence said.
She says the conditions have affected how residents use their own neighborhood.
“I’d rather get in my car and drive a couple of miles than walk a block away from my own house,” nearby resident Reshma Shajan said.
Florence says some incidents have raised concerns beyond normal property maintenance issues, including reports of people staying inside the buildings, suspected wire theft, and a person inside one building who she says was unclothed.
Residents question whether buildings should be treated as safety issues
Florence says she believes the properties should be evaluated under Houston’s dangerous building rules rather than handled only as visual blight complaints.
“We’re not talking about blight,” Florence said. “We’re talking about dangerous buildings.”
She says the distinction matters because residents are concerned about unsecured structures, unauthorized entry, and potential hazards.
Florence says the response she has received through 311 has been frustrating.
“Every time we report through 311, they either become closed because they claim the work has been completed or they claim it’s a duplicate case,” she said.
City says process is being updated
The city email sent to Florence says visual blight cases cannot currently be abated while officials update the process and that there is no start date for when abatements will resume.
An abatement is when the city steps in to address certain property problems after violations are not corrected.
The city says some inspections and violation notices are still moving forward. Dangerous building concerns are handled separately from visual blight cases.
One nearby property has recently been secured through work involving the City’s Dangerous Response Team, which residents say shows progress is possible when additional attention is applied.
Residents waiting for next steps
Shajan says residents want to see action before conditions continue.
“Not very long, I would say,” Shajan said when asked how much longer residents could deal with the conditions. “Months, because we’ve been pushing for a very, very long time.”
The city has not provided a timeline for when visual blight abatements will resume.
KPRC 2 has asked city officials what changes are being made to the process, who authorized the pause, and what options remain for residents dealing with potentially unsafe properties while the program is on hold.