Parrington Updates BCA on Town's Anti-Blight and Graffiti Efforts

At the 's monthly meeting on Tuesday, guest speaker Islip Town Councilman Gene Parrington spoke to those in attendance about plans to rid the district of blight, which is an issue that faces all communities throughout the town.

Driving around Bayport, especially on Middle Road, you can see antique houses boarded up with untamed shrubbery and hazardous porches. Though they are few and far between, they are still eyesores and, by law, they are considered blighted.

In February the town approved a  designed to force mortgage companies, banks and property owners to restore properties. All reported blighted properties are reviewed by the town and are graded using a scorecard that provides Islip officials with an idea of the extent of the property's decay .

“Blight is the biggest issue we are facing here,” Parrington said.

The town councilman said each blighted property receives points based on the danger they impose on neighbors. For instance, if a property violates health codes, it receives 50 points. If there is excessive vegetation, the property is given another 50 points. When a property reaches 100 points, the owner is fined: $2,500 for a residential owner and $5,000 for a commercial owner.

“The blight law puts all expenses back on the owner,” Parrington said.

The town is also trying to entice developers to buy blighted properties instead of building on new land by offering discounts.

“Developers will get a 50 percent discount on permit fees and the town will expedite the application," Parrington said.

Thus far, Parrington said 150 blighted properties have been restored.

Brookhaven Town passed a similar program in late 2010 called “Blight to Light.” However, Brookhaven’s program focuses mainly on rehabilitating commercial properties.

Parrington used the blight issue to segue into the problem with graffiti in Islip Town. He said Bayport is no exception. Though not a huge problem, graffiti is still sprayed on stop signs and the side of buildings in the area.

“There are two types of graffiti: the kind that’s an attempt at being artistic and the hateful, gang-related kind,” Parrington said.

Since the beginning of July, Parrington said the town has been working to remove as much graffiti as possible with the use of a graffiti truck. The truck is equipped with color-matching paint sprayers and a power washer.

The Home Depot and Glidden Paint supply the truck with 100 gallons of paint every three months for free on the condition that both company's names are written on the side of the truck.

Parrington said Islip is only the second town in the nation to have an anti-graffiti program. The other town is in California.

“It’s nice to know that the truck can get right on it,” Parrington said. “It’s about taking care of it as quickly as possible, so [graffiti artists] are like ‘Wow, they painted over it already?’”