progress on vacant buildings

there has been a lot of talk recently in nearby neighborhoods about vacant properties and getting them taxed at the proper rate, hopefully pushing the owners to sell or fix up their building and get them occupied. i personally believe in the broken windows theory and that the sooner we can get places fixed up and occupied, the increased activity on the street will help deter crime and any of the other negative issues we have to deal with in the city.

with that in mind, here's an email i got from a friend here in bloomingdale this week:

Good afternoon,

This is in response to your inquiry about the property located at 59 R Street NW; this property is registered with the Office of Vacant Property. I have sent the owner of record a Notice of Violation to clean and secure the property, at which time he/she has 10 days to complete. If this not done DCRA will perform the abatement and bill and fine the owner of record. I will also forward this property to the Office of Tax & Revenue to start the tax reclassification process. DCRA does appreciate any and all information about vacant nuisance properties in the District of Columbia, so that we can bring them all up to code as quickly as possible.

Allen W. Smith

progress.