The list of St. Bernard Parish structures condemned for demolition has been pared to about 2,500 in recent weeks, parish officials said.

Early this month, nearly 3,700 houses and businesses were on the list.

Dave Peralta, the parish's chief administrative officer, said many owners have come to the parish to ask that their homes be removed from the list. Also, he said, some homes were mistakenly put on the list.

The parish has begun putting large yellow stickers with a red X on listed structures the council has condemned for demolition. The structures eventually will be demolished. Owners of structures razed after Dec. 31 could face having to pay for a share of the demolition costs, the parish said.

The parish has demolished some 2,000 structures on a "voluntary" demolition list. The cost of tearing down those on the voluntary list is covered by FEMA. Once it is finished with the voluntary list, the parish will turn its attention to knocking down the structures on the list of condemned properties.

Peralta said owners can appeal the condemnation ruling. They must make their appeals in person, at the parish's Office of Community Development, and then clean, gut and secure their property within seven days.

"That's easy to check," he said. "I can just ride my inspectors past most of those houses to make sure the owners did what they said they were going to do."