Jean Mikle

@jeanmikle

Drive down any bayfront street in Highlands and the houses are visible, spotted in between the rebuilt homes that soar high on pilings and the vacant lots where homes once stood.

Carolyn Broullon and her wife, Donica Basinger, completed repairs on their Sandy-damaged home on Highlands' Miller Street last year. The house is now elevated to 13 feet above sea level. But when she looks around her block, Broullon is sometimes discouraged by what she sees.

"There is a house on the corner of Miller and 5th Street that was gutted after the storm but no other work (was) done," Broullon said. A Cape Cod on Miller, between 4th and 5th streets, has been vacant since long before Sandy, she said, and has been repeatedly battered by numerous storms.

Now Highlands, along with 18 other storm-ravaged Shore towns, is trying to do something about homes that have essentially been abandoned since Sandy roared ashore two years ago. The towns hope to take advantage of the state's Unsafe Structures Demolition Program,which has $25 million in federal funds that can be used to knock down abandoned, dilapidated structures.

Inspectors from the state Department of Community Affairs have so far completed inspections of 1,600 structures that participating towns have identified as candidates for demolition.

These decaying homes can be found in waterfront neighborhoods all over Monmouth and Ocean counties, in places like Mystic Island in Little Egg Harbor, Beach Haven West in Stafford and Tuckerton Beach in Tuckerton.

Stafford Administrator James Moran said there are about 300 in Beach Haven West alone, and others in Mud City and Cedar Bonnet Island.

Even tiny Mantoloking has its share of abandoned properties. Mayor George Nebel estimated there are 39 properties that have not been maintained since Sandy devastated his oceanfront borough.

"We have just started a photographic survey of our properties, and we will be sending letters to homeowners, asking what their plans are," Nebel said. Like most municipal officials in towns badly damaged by Sandy, Nebel said Mantoloking wanted to give homeowners a lot of leeway in dealing with the unprecedented amount of devastation caused by the storm.

"Some houses have big debris piles, things that have not been touched," Nebel said. Nearby homeowners, who have already started rebuilding, have begun to complain.

Workshops walk Sandy victims through RREM process

There are a number of reasons that homes have not been repaired. In some cases, property owners may still be fighting with their insurance companies or waiting to learn if they will receive grant funding that will allow them to demolish the home and then rebuild.

"Some may be gutted partially inside," said Highlands Administrator Tim Hill. "Those are not as hazardous as the structures that haven't been touched since the storm." Hill estimates there are about 80 structures in the borough that "need attention."

Owners of second homes, not eligible for grant funding through the state's Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation program, often have few resources to deal with the extensive costs of rebuilding and raising their houses. In some cases, Moran said, property owners have simply walked away, leaving the dilapidated properties behind.

The vacant homes can become havens for vermin and insects, and can also be infested with mold. For homeowners who have spent thousands of dollars to rebuild and refurbish their houses, the presence of such properties in their neighborhoods can be discouraging.

In Little Egg's Mystic Island, East Dory Drive resident Clover Webb expressed frustration about five homes on her small block that have remained untouched since Sandy.

"These buildings need to be torn down," she said.

For municipal officials struggling with a myriad of problems since Sandy, the presence of so many decrepit houses is yet another vexing issue.

"Unless the house is a safety hazard, and is imminent danger of failure, we are very limited in what we can do," said Stafford Administrator Moran. "Mold inside a house doesn't pose a real threat outside the house. It is an eyesore in the neighborhood, but the situation for these municipalities is, these people have rights, too."

Some towns, like Toms River, participated in private property debris removal program that was funded by FEMA. Toms River Administrator Paul J. Shives said that the private property program, followed by the township's code enforcement program for homes whose owners did not voluntarily join in the first round of demolitions, has greatly helped reduce the number of untended structures in town.

Few homes completed through RREM program

Shives said a recent survey of the township, where more than 10,000 homes were damaged by Sandy, showed only about 50 to 60 houses that could still be classified as abandoned or untouched.

That's not the case in some towns. Moran said that in Stafford, where the devastation was not as complete as in Toms River's Ortley Beach section, it was difficult to determine at first which homes were a total loss and would have to be knocked down.

"When they needed us to sign up for that program, we could not identify properties," Moran said.

In-depth: Sandy, 2 years later

DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan said that the state is in process of doing title searches on those abandoned homes to determine ownership. Under the state's program, homeowners must consent to demolition in order for their house to be taken down.

Demolitions have not yet started, and Stafford's Moran said he it is unlikely that any homes will be demolished before April.

Highlands administrator Hill said in his borough, where about 50 percent of the housing stock was rented, some of the owners "have just walked away." Hill said the borough has applied for funds under the state Unsafe Structures program and is also appealing for more FEMA funds that could potentially be used to assist with demolitions.

"We have a couple of different programs to try to gently encourage people to get back on track," Hill said. "We want to work with the property owners as much as possible."

Jean Mikle: (732) 643-4050, jmikle@app.com