Dealing with York's 'Red X' buildings

Dealing with York’s ‘Red X’ buildings

In neighborhoods across the City of York, dozens of buildings sit abandoned, boarded up, and marked with a red ‘X.’

Carolyn Kennedy said one of those red ‘X’ buildings sits in the backyard of her East Cottage Place home. She added that the building has sat empty since she moved into the area several decades ago.

“It’s just sitting there,” said Kennedy. “I think that the city should either take it down or have whoever owns it take it down.”

The X’s were put up by the York Department of Fire/Rescue Services to let firefighters know about structural issues inside the building. Chief William Sleeger said firefighters won’t enter a red ‘X’ building during a fire, unless for life-saving reasons.

“If we can make a safe entry, then we’ll do it. If not, then we’ll look at what the issue is and just surround and drown the building,” said Chief Sleeger.

According to York’s Department of Fire and Rescue Services, roughly 80 buildings across the city are marked with the red X.

But getting the buildings torn down isn’t as easy as it sounds. The City of York must go through a long process just to get property owners to renovate or demolish the buildings.

“If you don’t get ahold of them then it has to go through the legal side, where the city will seize the property,” said Chief Sleeger. “It takes a lot of time to do that.”

As of now, there are no plans to demolish any of the condemned buildings.

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