Cities may have any of several reasons to pursue demolition of vacant houses that are decayed past the point of repair. It eliminates a fire hazard and a potential crime location, and it can help property values in the area. Demolitions come with challenges, however, both for funding and legal processes in some cases.
Several officials at the Fall Meeting of the SC Community Development Association discussed the procedures and opportunities involved, beginning with Municipal Association of SC General Counsel Eric Shytle. He distinguished between an involuntary demolition, occurring without a property owner’s cooperation, and a voluntary process.
Several provisions of state law can allow a municipality to pursue involuntary demolitions. SC Code Section 5-7-80 allows local ordinances requiring that “the owner of any lot or property in the municipality shall keep such lot or property clean and free of rubbish, debris and other unhealthy and unsightly material or conditions which constitute a public nuisance.” Section 31-15-10 authorizes municipalities to demolish “dwellings which are unfit for human habitation.”
With involuntary demolition, cities must notify owners and give them an opportunity to communicate with the city about a potential demolition.
“Your local ordinance needs to address due process. I think the hardest part about this is that sometimes you can’t get ahold of the owners, particularly if it’s heirs’ property,” Shytle said. “It’s tempting to just look at the tax records to see who owns the structure, and the property tax records are often going to lead you astray. You need to do a title search before you tear the house down.”
With legal challenges and the difficulty of recovering expenses, Shytle said, it’s much more efficient to seek voluntary demolitions, but this brings the challenges of persuading owners to participate and finding funding.
One funding method is the Community Development Block Grant program of the SC Department of Commerce, aimed at addressing the needs of low- and moderate-income individuals and available to local governments. In the 2024 program year, $7.1 million was available for community enrichment, the category covering demolitions, said Stefanie Smith Dewort, CDBG grants manager for the SC Department of Commerce.
These funds can be used for demolition of large structures, if owned by the local government. For residential demolition, she said, structures do not have to be owned by the local government, and do not require liens in all cases.
“The majority will be voluntary, and then most likely will have one or two units that you do have to use your [demolition] ordinance for,” she said. “Liens are required by us for neighborhood demolition projects if the total cost of the demolition is more than $10,000 per property or property owner.”
She also noted that entities applying for CDBG funds should budget for title searches, asbestos testing and air monitoring.
The City of Hartsville’s Residential Demolition Assistance Program, a collaboration with the nonprofit Hartsville Community Development Foundation, has helped persuade owners to demolish houses since 2013, as outlined by Hartsville Codes & Licensing Officer Christopher Morgan.
The program identifies candidate properties and contacts owners about them. Applicants contribute amounts of $500 to $1,000 toward the demolition, with the program providing the remaining funds. The owner retains ownership of the newly vacant lot. Morgan stressed the importance of being sensitive to the challenges faced by communities where demolition happens, and the fear of losing ownership.
“It’s important that you don’t have a ‘take’ mentality, but a ‘give’ mentality,” he said.
Having the owner participate in the demolition financially makes a critical difference as well.
Morgan asked which sounded better — “’the city demolished this house,’ or ‘I demolished my property.’ It’s a big difference.”