NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez is looking for a better way to deal with the number of abandoned structures around town and clean up the city by requiring property owners to take responsibility for their property, Natchez City Planner Bob Nix said.

Nix said he is currently working with City Attorney Everett Sanders to create a plan of action against irresponsible property owners that involves the owners facing misdemeanor charges and getting the courts involved.

“Our objective is to get people to take responsibility for their property,” Nix said. “Part of it is enforcing the codes. Once you do that, people will start to take notice.”

Nix said there are approximately 190 structures on his list of properties that need attention. He said about four to five structures are demolished a year, while others are in poor condition.

Nix said that number of dilapidated houses will remain high until the city finds another method of enforcement with harsher penalties property owners will take seriously.

Nix said the objective is to get property owners to tear down the structures at their own expense and not let it get to the point where the city has to intervene and use city funds to demolish it.

“The city isn’t here to be someone’s convenient way to eliminate their problem at the taxpayers’ expense,” Nix said. “That’s not our business. Our business is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.”

Nix said the abandoned structures not only pose a safety threat but decrease the pride people have in their neighborhoods.

“When neighborhoods start getting cleaned up, the property value stabilizes and a lot of good things start happen,” he said. “It creates a lot of pride in the community, and people start to ensure the integrity of their neighborhoods by taking care of their property.”

Nix said a lot of the structures were previously noticed by the city but nothing was ever done about the properties.

“Our objective is to make something happened,” he said.

Natchez City Clerk Donnie Holloway said $30,000 is appropriated each year to deal with abandoned structures. Ward 2 Aldermen James “Rickey” Gray said he believes the city needs $60,000 each year to effectively manage the properties.

Gray said properties on roads that residents and tourists travel the most such as Martin Luther King Jr. Street should be demolished first.

“If we are going to be a tourist town, we need to clean up the town,” he said.

Gray said the properties that have no one living around them could be burned and used for firefighter training.

Gray also said he is concerned for the safety of the people who live next to abandoned structures not only because the structures could fall on their houses or catch on fire but because most of the houses are left unlocked and open.

“You don’t know who is going in and out of these places, and the people living next door are afraid,” Gray said.

Gray called the structures a “blight” on the community and said cleaning up the city should be a top priority.

“We need to try to find out where our needs are instead of our wants,” Gray said.

“The economy is not going to let us get our wants, so we need to deal with the needs, and we need to clean up this city.”