2,389 homes abandoned in Summit Co.

Associated Press

AKRON

About one in every 85 homes is abandoned in Northeast Ohio’s Summit County.

County officials have identified 2,389 abandoned homes — out of the county’s 196,000 homes — since July, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Ninety-one percent of those abandoned homes are in Akron, where one out of every 36 of the city’s 76,000 homes is abandoned.

Officials started keeping track of abandoned homes earlier this year in the hopes of creating a database to assist the county in updating property values.

Abandoned homes drag down property values, contribute to crime and create public health hazards, the Beacon Journal reported.

“It’s absolutely disappointing to see some of these neighborhoods being just devastated,” said Ray Valle, county director of real estate. And he says there are a lot more abandoned homes that haven’t been accounted for.

The county received nearly 5,000 suggestions from the public and from water-service records to look into possibly abandoned homes. Workers visit each property to determine whether the home has been abandoned.

Summit County Councilman Cazzell Smith chairs the county’s Abandoned and Vacant Property Planning Committee.

He said the community has to develop a comprehensive plan, which should include green space, to deal with the problem.

Akron resident Kenneth Thomas Kurtz, 66, said he’s fed up with living next door to an abandoned house with a broken window and notices covering the front door.

“This is a big headache here,” he said.