Demolition activity list targets 7 properties in Van Buren Township

Van Buren Township has identified seven properties that have remained vacant for a long time, are abandoned, and have been deemed to be unsafe for human occupancy by the township building official.
Director of Public Services Matthew Best said the township has followed due process on each of the cases, by appropriately tagging the property, sending out multiple written notices to the owner to correct the violations or demolish the property and providing an opportunity for the owner to appeal the notice.
In most cases the property owners have been completely non-responsive, Director Best said. Upon consultation with the township attorney it was determined that it is appropriate to proceed with demolition of the properties, he said.
The available funding will be used to demolish the following properties:
• Tyler Road barns — two barns in severe disrepair, at the southeast corner of Tyler and Morton Taylor
• 7537 Beck Rd. — two detached sheds/garage
• 50725 Michigan Ave. — principal dwelling and two detached accessory structures
• 44440 Hull Rd. — principal dwelling
• 6935 Belleville Rd. — principal dwelling and detached garage
• 50115 Bog Rd. — dwelling and barn demo incomplete and left unsafe
• 13970 Haggerty — detached garage and lean-to
This is the list for demolitions presented to township board members at the July 16 meeting to answer their question about which demolitions Best was planning that included use of $76,581 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds they were approving. The cost of the demolition will be put on the property as a lien and repaid to the township when the property changes hands.