HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – With a resurgence of focus by the city on code enforcement in recent years, the demolition of abandoned and structurally compromised properties has added to the rising number of vacant lots in Hopkinsville. In 2024 alone, 45 unsafe structures were demolished due to code violations, leaving 45 additional vacant lots.
“We cannot live in a town with 30,000 people and have 1,000 vacant lots,” said Troy Body, the city administrator. “That’s neglect, it’s gone on too long, and things have to change.”
Code enforcement challenges and successes
A discussion among officials was set in motion at the Jan. 23 Committee of the Whole meeting where Fire Chief Steve Futrell shared 2024 statistics for code enforcement. He showed the committee a photo of a residential property on Vera Drive that had no electricity or utilities and had received a notice of code violation. The home ended up burning since someone living inside was lighting fires to keep warm. The difficulty in tracking down owners, who are often out of state leads to violations going unnoticed.
In another instance, code enforcement prevented possible injury and future damage by immediately demolishing a home that was compromised during a fire. They were able to track down the owner, inform them of what was going on, and were given the go ahead to take action. The home was demolished within 24 hours of the fire.
Why the urgency? Futrell explained to the committee that the abandoned and damaged homes frequently attract people who are unaware or unwilling to recognize the risk involved with being inside the structure. “We cannot keep people out of these houses. We cannot keep the homeless out of these houses, we cannot keep the kids in these neighborhoods out of these houses,” explained Futrell.
More and more vacant lots
Body said the city’s efficient code enforcement process is a double-edged sword saying, “There’s a consequence to what he’s doing. The more aggressive they are, all of those demos he’s talking about, they create vacant lots.”
He went on to say that they are working on a comprehensive plan to tackle the issue of vacant lots. Once the plan is complete, it will be presented to the committee of the whole for further discussion and implementation through the city council. Last year they ramped up funding and efforts to help fill these lots through the Land Bank Authority, which successfully built a single-family home and a 4-unit multi-family residential dwelling on previously vacant lots.
While Brody and Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight are confident at the proposal they have created and will present at a later date, they currently have no solid means to fund it. “We are going to bring it to you to address these lots in big chunks, we are not going to eat this elephant with a spoon,” he added. “It won’t be cheap, it will be aggressive, and we’ll kick that can to you in terms of where to find the cost,” Brody told the committee.
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