CRESTVIEW With the goal of creating space for safe, affordable housing, city officials hope to soon see old, rickety houses in a high-crime part of town demolished and cleared away.
The Crestview City Council in March unanimously approved paying a little more than $106,000 to local businessman Jay Woodbury for the purchase of eight residential lots.
Four of the parcels are vacant lots on North Savage Street, and four contain a total of six houses, all of which will be razed, on West Bowers and West Field avenues.
“We’ve had a very high call volume (for police assistance) within this Field-Bowers’ area,” City Manager Tim Bolduc said recently. “So it’s taking something that’s currently being used that way and then turning it into something that is legitimate and affordable housing. We can make sure that we provide housing for our citizens, but that we’re doing it in a way where it’s safe for them to live in.”
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is trying to identify a female in reference to a theft of a vehicle and service dog in Santa Rosa County on Feb.1.