NEW ORLEANS — A Lakeview home that has been vacant and festering for nearly 19 years since Hurricane Katrina struck was demolished Friday, much to the delight of neighbors.
The house, whose owner had racked up over $500,000 in fines, had become home to possums, rats, mosquitoes and the occasional vagrant.
Neighbors had been complaining for years and the city's code enforcement had been issuing letters to the owner, ordering them to clean things up. Councilman Joe Giarrusso said those orders fell on deaf ears.
"The owner gamed the system for years," said Giarrusso in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Unfortunately, because CE (code enforcement) was spread out among multiple departments before consolidation, it was easier to work the system and cause delay, after delay."
According to the city, back in 2018 the owner was found guilty of six violations and ordered to pay $2,710. Then in 2021 the owner was again found of four violations and ordered to pay $2,920. Late last year the owner was found guilty of six violations and ordered to pay another $2,710.
In 2021 the neighborhood threw a Sweet 16 birthday party for the blighted home.