Clear Lake Shores ordinance on Ike housing

Houston Chronicle

CLEAR LAKE SHORES, Texas — Residents of a Galveston-area community damaged by 2008's Hurricane Ike will have three months to repair their boarded-up homes or tear them down.

Clear Lake Shores City Administrator Paul Shelley says a previous ordinance allowed boarded-up structures if they were secure. The new ordinance, approved last week, requires businesses or homeowners to repair or demolish residences damaged by the Sept. 13, 2008, hurricane, including these south Houston apartments.

Property owners, after receiving notice, will have 90 days to inform the city of their plans to repair, demolish or appeal the order. Clear Lake Shores will tear down a structure and place a lien on the property if the owner does not respond to the notice, which also applies to storage sheds and rental units.

Clear Lake Shores is 25 miles northwest of Galveston.

Texas City was Right to Help Evictees Move

Galveston County Daily News

When officials in Texas City took action against The Oaks Apartments, 8601 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, they made sure the residents didn’t end up on the streets.

The city finally cut the water off to the complex. When the action was taken, the complex’s owners owed more than $60,000. They also faced complaints about code violations.

The city helped 62 residents move. City officials gave plenty of warning that the action was coming and worked with Catholic Charities and other apartment owners to find new homes for those displaced. Catholic Charities covered the security deposits at the new apartments.

The city and its partners should get credit for helping some regular people out of a bad situation in Galveston apartments.