If the companies do a shut off, I am notified and utilities are put back in my name.

Most of the time the people in so-called bad neighborhoods are surprisingly friendly, helpful and oftentimes church-going.

My real estate agent totally shut me down when I mentioned the idea of buying a property that will give me the option to develop on it.

I am going to increase the value of all the homes in the neighbor by addressing this problem.Electricity is on, gas and water have been shut off.

Just remember in some areas even with sub-meter you have the bill for the whole thing from the utility company.So if bill was 100 for their part and yours was 200 and they paid rent but not utility your whole service can be shut off if you do not pay.That is why a separate meter from utility company is better because a direct connection the bill goes under the tenants name and if they do not pay it then your unit is still on under a different address and billing. 

We purchased an old church and fellowship hall and we are turning both in to SFH's. 

I know I can always deduct the bill from their security deposit once they leave, but my question was whether I can give them enough notice (2 or 3 weeks) and shut their utilities.

I know from my experience unless it's a child's b-day or the big holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc... most people get annoyed with stuff being shut down.

I too was shut down several times, we first caterer government clients only, then moved to commercial chains, then this year wanted to jump to residential.

This link describes the "Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act", but that seems to protect against cases of utility companies shutting off water unjustly, rather than the opposite.It looks like you may be responsible for the bills in this case.