SPOKANE, Wash. — Neighbors in North Central Spokane are feeling safer after the city boarded up a house known as a hot-spot for drugs and illegal activity.
A home located just hundreds of yards from North Central High School has been boarded up and marked with “do not enter” signs after the city of Spokane’s code enforcement deemed the property unsafe to live in.
This comes months after a seven-month federal investigation discovered drugs and guns in the house in May.
From the investigation, federal prosecutors have worked to seize the home.
Stephen McCormick, who lives across the street from the shuttered house, said the neighborhood has transformed since the property was closed.
“It was a drug house. I mean, it’s a place where people do their drugs,” McCormick said. “There’s a boatload of kids who walk to school here. So, it’s nice that it’s gone.”
The property on Maxwell Avenue and Wall Street now sits vacant following the City of Spokane’s recent order to evacuate all residents and prohibit re-entry.
McCormick compared the volume of drug activity at the house to a major pharmacy chain, saying, “Walmart’s pharmacy had nothing on that place across the street. Nothing at all.”
The dramatic change from an active drug operation to a boarded-up structure has brought relief to neighbors who had grown accustomed to constant criminal activity on their block.
However, neighbors said they have new concerns as winter approaches.
McCormick said he is worried about potential squatters moving into the vacant house and the potential fire risks.
“Most of these places are made out of wood, and all it takes is one good wind and one good ember,” McCormick said.
The federal government continues to pursue seizure of the property, though the timeline for that process remains unclear.
“We know it’s not coming back. And we’re really happy about that,” McCormick said.
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