Ypsilanti Township's Office of Community Standards is busy these days, focusing its efforts on blighted buildings to stabilize neighborhoods by either rehabilitating or demolishing buildings if they're beyond repair.

Bill Elling, a specialist in the township's OCS, says the office is "overwhelmed" with its workload.

This apartment building at 2403 E. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti Township was recently boarded up.

Photo courtesy of the Ypsilanti Township Office of Community Standards

Police Services Administrator Mike Radzik said the OCS was created last winter to identify blighted buildings such as abandoned homes, businesses or apartment complexes. That can mean anything from severe fire or water damage to faulty or dangerous electrical work.

Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said the OCS is vital to preventing the kind of blight that plagues areas of Detroit from happening in the township.

The township began targeting blighted buildings in March 2008, and the OCS was created last year to help centralize those duties. The office encompasses the township planning, building, and ordinance departments, but has only four employees - including Radzik - to directly deal with blighted buildings.

Township officials say the blight problem was brought to their attention by residents, area business owners, and law enforcement officials. Radzik said they gathered a significant "hit list" of blighted buildings throughout the township.

So far, the township has identified 60 blighted buildings and demolished 17 of them. The office has also targeted another 40, and Radzik expects 10 of those to be demolished.

"Every day, we would add new ones," Radzik said.

The conditions of some of the buildings the OCS investigates can be shocking. Pictures taken by staff reveal buildings with bare electrical wiring, huge piles of furniture, toys and junk shoved into corners, filthy appliances, structural problems, water damage, and sometimes piles of dog feces on the floor.

In some cases, children are living in those conditions. Elling said he's grown so used to the sights that he's immune to them.

When OCS employees respond to complaints about blighted buildings, they contact the owners of the property in writing, giving them a week to 30 days to respond, depending on the condition. If they don't get a response from the owners, they get a court order and declare it unsafe.

If criminal activity is involved - like drugs or dog fighting - the township makes it a priority to deal with the situation in 24 to 72 hours, officials said. The same rules apply if children and other residents are endangered by living in an unsafe or overly unsanitary building.

Radzik said the conditions of some blighted buildings are brought to the township's attention through law enforcement activities such as raids on suspected drug dealers or dog fighting rings.

Township officials say they found many problems in the apartment building at 2403 E. Michigan Ave.

Photo courtesy of the Ypsilanti Township Office of Community Standards

If a building is slated for demolition, the township charges the owner for the amount of the work. If they can't or don't pay, a lien is put on the property. After that, the township gets back costs when either the owner pays for the demolition or the lien is paid off by any new owners who purchase the property.

Any recovered funds are then funneled into the township's nuisance abatement fund. Radzik said it can take months to get the money back, but they eventually do - which means the blight reduction effort comes at no extra cost to township taxpayers.

"Somewhere down the road, the lien gets paid and we get our money back," Radzik said.

In 2008, the township only used money from its nuisance abatement fund for the program. But last fall it received $200,000 in federal funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which is overseen by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The township gets those funds through the county.

Radzik said the program is the first of its kind in the country. Washtenaw County officials traveled to Washington to speak with HUD officials to get it implemented.

Radzik said the NSP funds can only be used in low- to moderate-income areas, and the township can only use the NSP funds after they've spent available funds recovered through their blight reduction program.

When a dwelling is deemed uninhabitable, residents must be moved out - as was the case with a six-unit apartment building at 2403 E. Michigan Ave. Because of numerous safety violations, it will be demolished. Some county funds are being used to help displaced residents move.

This building at 2403 E. Michigan Ave. may be demolished.

Photo courtesy of the Ypsilanti Township Office of Community Standards

Radzik said demolition is the last thing the township wants to do, unless the buildings in question are beyond repair. He said they want them to be salvaged whenever possible.

Radzik said two outlets are used to save blighted buildings. One is to refer them to organizations like Habitat for Humanity, which will see whether the owner wants to rehabilitate the home and sell it to first-time homeowners. The other option is to sell the building to private owners, who may fix and turn it into rental property.

Radzik also stressed the township attempts to avoid taking property owners to court. In some cases, owners voluntarily give up their properties through a consent judgment if they can't afford or simply don't want to fix the problems themselves, Radzik said.

The OCS has until May 1 to identify all blighted properties in the township under a HUD deadline. But they'll continue their efforts on rehabilitation and demolition through 2013.

As part of the effort, the OCS presented the township Board of Trustees with six properties it wanted identified as blighted at the Jan. 19 meeting. The board unanimously approved the request.

Joe Sesi, owner of Sesi Lincoln Mercury Mazda on Michigan Avenue, said he's grateful for the township's effort to address blight. He said he knows the township is working hard to address the problem, but it's going to take time.

"We're all for eliminating blight," Sesi said.

David Wak is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.