Why?

Buffalo Business First [ Click Here! ] consistently ranks the Town of Evans as one of the worst places to live in Erie County. WHY? The town has 12.5 miles of waterfront, State, County, and town waterfront parks, a marina, a pool, and more. While not the only factor, distressed properties contribute to the town’s negative perception. 429 Dawn Avenue is an example. Even though this property is on a dirt or unimproved road and out of sight of most people, Evans has numerous distressed properties. Multiple distressed properties on Kennedy Avenue is an example.

Would you purchase a house in a distressed neighborhood?

Even though this property went through foreclosure, there is no reason the town could not clean up the property and put the cost on the tax bill.

Erie County sold this property for $10,000. The town’s assessor values the property at $51,700. The 2024 land value is $9,995.33! In this example, the town would have easily recovered the clean-up costs. Waiting years to clean up properties is not fair to any neighborhood.

These properties should be cleaned via a town board vote and not a judge’s ruling.

While the first reaction would be to question the building department, the real problem is that our elected officials and others run interference for family and friends. Family & Friends often are “code exempt” resulting in the building inspector having their hands tied in code enforcement matters. Can the town provide a copy of a demolition permit for a local hot dog stand? Town officials often claim there are laws on the books to clean up these properties. Unfortunately, the Evans Court is not helpful on these matters.

Property values in Hamburg / Lakeview are increasing faster than here in Evans. Look at all the new construction in Hamburg. Hamburg is gaining population while the population in Evans continues to shrink.

Evans has a $20M+ budget. One councilperson is in the office for 3 hours just one day a week. [ Click Here! ] No real business could survive if 4 of 5 managers didn’t show up for work. This is why Evans missed out on grant funding for new sewers. None of our elected officials took the time to make sure the paperwork was completed and sent in.

There is no reason not to start cleaning up distressed properties (not just properties behind in paying taxes) as a start to improving an outsider’s perception of Evans.

All Evans needs is a board member willing to show some initiative!