The council’s unanimous decision brings to nine the number of homes that have been or will be purchased by Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds, awarded through FEMA.
But some property owners are still awaiting buyouts after slow-moving landslides, fueled by record rains in the spring and summer of 2015, severely damaged or destroyed dozens of homes in the Lower Skyway and Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhoods.
The city has bought three houses and approved the purchase of three more in January. On Tuesday, houses at 904 and 1002 Zodiac Drive and 315 Haversham Drive were added to that list, which includes other homes on Zodiac Drive and homes on Broadmoor Bluffs Drive and Constellation Drive.
Each house will be demolished after it’s appraised and cleared of hazardous materials, and the land will be left as open space.
Gordon Brenner, the city’s recovery coordinator, said he will soon ask the City Council to approve a 10th buyout, the last that will be possible with this round of funds from the grant program.
Another 10 homeowners are still on the waiting list, Brenner said. City staff will continue to work with the state to apply for additional funding to purchase the remaining homes, he said.
“I’d like to get it done as quickly as possible,” Brenner said. “These poor people have been living in these conditions really since the summer of 2015.”
Many of those victims have moved out of their homes because damage made them unsafe, but they’ve had to maintain ownership of the properties to qualify for federal funds. Some have for years paid two mortgages, anticipating they would eventually get a payout by holding onto the damaged properties.
Brenner declined to say where those homes awaiting buyouts are located, citing concern for residents’ privacy. Disclosing that information could be detrimental to the homeowners if they choose to sell their houses in the future, he said.
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