Why do these processes have to be so slow?

With respect to the clean up of burnt out properties, in terms of time, if everything fell into place perfectly in a particular case, which it never does, the very quickest that the City would be able to effectuate a property cleanup under RSA 155-B or RSA 147 would be around 8 to 9 months after the fire. Both RSA's are linear in nature and not many of the steps required can be completed concurrently. However, given the way the process works in reality, it is typically going to be more like 12 to18 months especially if the owner appeals the order in the court.

Further, often there is more than one building and therefore more than one property owner involved. If the two buildings burned together, the fire debris is now generally all in one pile which means that the debris can only be cleaned up all at once and not separately. Yet, two separate property owners means that each property owner is afforded separate legal processes under the law. This means that the overall cleanup process can go no faster than the slower process which develops for either owner. Obviously, this can slow the process much more than if there is just one owner involved.   

With the number of fires the City has suffered recently, there is no question that the City has become more than a bit overwhelmed. In February and March, the State Fire Marshall's office assisted the City with an inspection blitz of about 100 properties or roughly 300 units in the period of a few days. This was a great help to the City from the State in the sense that it got the attention of a lot of landlords that business as usual was changing. It also got the attention of a lot of tenants who, seeing the fires, began to realize that they had an interest in finding a place to stay that was safe. This inspection blitz led to well in excess of 1000 violations which have to be followed up on. Clearly, this can only be dealt with a little bit at a time. This is in addition to the comprehensive housing inspection program the City has started and dealing with the fire properties themselves.

It is going to take several years for the City to see the rewards of this effort which will reverse the downward property spiral the City has been in and will result in housing in Berlin which is decent, safe and attractive.