Smithtown moves closer to razing 4 uninhabitable houses

Smithtown Town officials are taking steps that could lead to razing four houses they believe are uninhabitable.

The homes -- two in Kings Park and two in Smithtown hamlet -- could be torn down by town workers because they are unsafe and their owners have failed to comply with orders to repair them, town officials said.

The houses are among 20 abandoned structures that the town has targeted for repair or demolition.

The town in August ordered owners of the properties -- at 30 Helen Ave. and 7 Hadley Dr. in Smithtown, and 77 Main St. and 81 Main St. in Kings Park -- to make repairs or face possible demolition.

Public hearings on the proposed demolitions are to be held during a town board meeting Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Smithtown Town Hall, 99 W. Main St.

Town officials have said that demolition costs will be added to the property owners’ tax bills.

The town board last month postponed a public hearing on cleaning up an abandoned trash carting company property, at 10 Fairview Ave. in Smithtown, at the request of the parcel’s owner, Fairview Holding Corp. of Westhampton Beach. No date for the hearing was set.

Photo: These two vacant Kings Park houses -- at 77 and 81 Main St. -- are on the town agenda for a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, on whether they should be torn down by the town. (Feb. 13, 2012)