CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) A county is only as beautiful as it’s communities.
One Chester County Councilman is pushing to help improve the county’s aesthetic and value by demolishing homes that he believes are lowering the value of neighborhoods around the county.
Chester’s County Councilman, Alex Oliphant, says Chester and the surrounding communities are overwhelmed with these poor structures. Right now, there are 7 homes in the Eureka neighborhood that are out for bid and once accepted will be demolished over the next month. Oliphant says he sees the opportunity for more.
“I have found, identified $350,000 of money that’s not earmarked, that can be used for this purpose,” says Oliphant.
Some of these Chester communities, once factory neighborhoods, have been here for nearly 100 years, and community leaders say that they’ve changed significantly over that time. Now they’re stepping in, in hopes of ensuring more safety.
For these community’s residents safety is their biggest concern. Chester County Sheriff, Max Dorsey, says these abandoned homes invite crime in communities. His office gets called out to these areas frequently.
“When I have been over to these communities, as I’m standing there in peoples yards, they point out homes right across the street and they say you see that home there, in the middle of the night they’ll be people in that home,” says Dorsey. “I don’t know what they’re doing but of course they’re not doing anything… They’re up to no good. There’s a sense of insecurity that that brings in so it’s frustrating and it’s been frustrating to these citizens.”
In the video above, CN2’s Rachel Richardson is speaking with neighbors and county leaders about what they would like to see done.
