City moves to demolish 11 condemned houses, leans on internal crews to lower costs

Crowley city staff told council committees on Jan. 13 that the city plans to demolish 11 structures that have completed the required court process and been declared eligible for city-initiated demolition.

Wesley Jacob, reporting for Public Works and the street department, said the mayor and he have operated leased equipment themselves to tear down structures and that code-enforcement staff will follow up to clean up smaller debris. 'It's 11 houses that gotta come down,' Wesley said, describing the program to remove blighted properties while trying to limit contractor costs and the financial burden on property owners.

Council members asked for the list of properties. Marty DeRoussell, city inspector, later confirmed he had emailed the property list to council members and that two properties had already been removed this week. Marty said the city has five owner-initiated demo permits in process, in addition to the city-initiated demolitions, and that part-time code-enforcement staff are picking up larger debris so the city can flatten and level parcels after demolition.

City leaders said the demolition timeline follows court-ordered notices and statutory waiting periods; in one described case the property owner had 130 days since the court action before the city's timeline allowed the city to begin work. The mayor and staff said they prefer property owners to take down structures themselves when possible but will move forward if owners do not act.

What’s next: Staff will continue demolitions in the coming weeks and provide a list of the 11 properties to council members and the public so neighborhood residents can know which parcels are scheduled for work.

Direct quotes in context are from committee remarks and city-inspector follow-up; no new policy changes were adopted beyond operational direction.