Following a recent blaze on a single-family home in the village of Mamaroneck’s Shore Acres neighborhood and a subsequent investigation for possible arson, the village will push for the remaining structure’s total demolition.
The fire, which took place earlier this month at 947 Shore Acres Drive, suddenly engulfed a vacant home that has sat unoccupied for nine years.
According to Village Manager Richard Slingerland, despite the home’s vacancy, evidence discovered at the scene of the fire and apparent “activity” in the house have spurred an investigation from the Westchester County Cause and Origin team which is designed to handle instances of possible arson.
“The building was completely involved, meaning there were flames throughout, which is highly unusual,” Slingerland said. “When the [village] Fire Department showed up, the building was completely engulfed.”
In the meantime, the village Building Department will conduct an analysis of the damaged house to deem whether or not the structure is unsafe and should be allowed to stand.
According to state law, the village may order the demolition of the home and charge the cost of its destruction back to the property owner, Norris Fox—who is listed as the most recent owner according to property records—but will first be required to wait a state-mandated period of time designed to give homeowners an opportunity to remedy the situation.
The process, Slingerland said, could take up to a month.
The home has been vacant for nearly a decade, stuck in limbo as a so-called “zombie house.”
These homes, many of which came as a side effect of the 2008 housing crisis, are characterized by their longstanding vacancy, mired in the processes of foreclosure and bank-owned mortgages.
Oftentimes, during long periods of transient ownership, houses stuck in foreclosure limbo will deteriorate to unsafe conditions.
Slingerland said the village has approximately 20 of such homes like 947 Shore Acres Drive which are in various stages of foreclosure.
According to a lawsuit launched by Citimortgage in 2014 against Fox, both the bank and the county sought to foreclose on the house’s $565,000 mortgage.
Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, who called the damaged structure an “extreme danger,” said homes like 947 Shore Acres Drive aren’t isolated.
“This is something that directly affects the immediate neighborhoods and overall village,” he said.
Among the issues, he said, are aesthetics and the potential danger when falling into dilapidation.
