Post by newsfeeder on Aug 20, 2006 15:33:39 GMT -5
(for those of you who didn't see this)
City Officials On Lookout For Problem Properties
By: Steve Yablonski
Friday August 18 2006
www.oswegodailynews.com
OSWEGO, NY - Every rose must have its thorns, they say. However, city officials hope to reduce the number of “thorns,” along West Bridge Street.
Tony Leotta, foreground, and Neal Smith check the exterior of a building along the tour route.
Acting Mayor Randy Bateman, aldermen Ed Harrington and Dick Atkins, Zoning Administrator Tony Leotta, Code Enforcement Director Neal Smith, Housing Inspector Patricia Kelly and Community Development Director Mary Vanouse walked West Bridge Street, from West Second Street to approximately the "Forks of the Road."
The walk was part of what the acting mayor calls “a media splash to draw attention to properties in need of repair.” This time, the group concentrated on problem properties in that specific area of the city. Similar walks in other areas are likely.
Not all of the properties were “problems;” many were examples of what a little effort on the part of the owner could do, the city officials pointed out.
“We did see some nice properties,” Bateman said. “They’re good examples of what the city can look like.”
For example, he pointed to The Raven tavern and its pub style architecture.
“It has character,” Vanouse said.
“A very nice design,” Smith added.
“We going to figure out what needs to be done, who needs to do what and what letter will come from which department and so forth,” the acting mayor explained.
“Many of these same people have been warned repeatedly. Some have been cited in the past,” Kelly pointed out.
Leotta stressed the city isn’t being unfair to anyone; they are just upholding the law, he said. It’s a matter of health and safety in some places, he added.
A board with nails sticking out of it presents a problem on a porch.
Approximately 100 violations were uncovered during the two-hour walk that covered both sides of the street.
It really doesn’t take much effort in most cases to keep a property in good condition, Leotta noted.
A lot of the repairs were minor, something that could be remedied with a fresh coat of paint, Smith explained.
“Any time there’s exposed wood it has to have protective cover, which doesn’t necessarily mean paint but some type of siding or something,” he said.
“A paint job would improve more than half of the properties around here,” Atkins noted.
On one building on the north side of West Bridge Street, Bateman cited missing bricks as a problem.
“It’s not the missing bricks that are the problem,” Harrington noted. “It’s the ‘next missing brick’ that may land on someone’s head that’s the problem.”
“It’s really a rotten shame they’ve let this place deteriorate,” Atkins said of one former stately residence on the south side of West Bridge Street.
Most of the windows were boarded up or covered by weeds and tree limbs. A board had fallen from the porch roof and was sitting on the floor with several long, rusted, nails exposed.
City officials hope Thursday's tour will encourage property owners to repair cracked and rotted wood, add a fresh coat of paint, and in general, clean up their properties.
“All it takes is for one little (flaw) to make the rest of a house look bad,” Bateman pointed out. “A lot of the property owners around here are fixing up their places. That is a good sign, but more needs to be done.”
“Hopefully, this little walking tour will give the owners the added incentive they need to get out and take care of things,” Smith said. “When we walk around like this, we can really see where many of the violations are and get them corrected before they become serious problems.”
In some areas, city officials spotted what could be evidence of possibly illegal apartments; in one site a long orange electrical cord ran from a second floor window up into the attic window.
It’s becoming a trend now to rent attic space as an apartment, Kelly pointed out.
There were indications at many of the properties that repairs were under way. However, the property was still littered with chunks of sawed wood, beer and soda cans. Plastic covering in one area had blown off a roof and become tangled in a nearby tree.
“Some people have trouble bending over (and cleaning up after themselves),” Atkins said, indicating the small pile of debris shoved along the side of one house.
At another location, in between two properties on the north side, a wooden fence seemed ready to cave in on top of a neighbor’s vehicle.
In many areas along the city’s main thoroughfare, garbage was
piled up on the porches or in the narrow spaces between houses. Broken glass was scattered along the sidewalk in some sections.
Cracks were visible in steps and there were holes in the walls on some properties on the north and south side of the road.
Tattered garbage bags were secreted under front porches. A car door had been tossed under the porch at one residence.
There used to be a lot of trash concerns in the area, Smith said.
“I used to get a lot of complaints. They have really cleaned up their act along here,” he said. “The number of complaints doesn’t come in any more like they used to.”
Pointing to a pile of ripped plastic garbage bags and pieces of half-eaten food, Smith noted that, according to the city code, garbage must be in a can, with a lid.
He made several notes as he walked along the south side of the street and then the north side back to City Hall. Some property owners would be receiving citations, he added.
Bateman directed Smith and Kelly to send letters to the property owners notifying them of problems found at their properties and give them the chance to correct things.
tour hole in the wall
Some of the properties viewed Thursday had holes in the siding that were visible from the road.
Some former businesses still had signs or pieces of signs, affixed to their walls. When a business goes out of business, they have 60 days to remove their signs, Bateman said.
At several of the properties tall grass and weeds were cited as problems.
Huge milkweed plants choked part of one lawn.
“The milkweed plant is poisonous. The only thing that can eat it is the Monarch butterfly. And, other things won’t eat the Monarch because they know they are poison from eating the milkweed,” Kelly pointed out. “Maybe I should have saved that for our nature walk.”
Many of the buildings drew praise from the city officials. Pausing at one home, Atkins noted, “Why can’t they all look like this? They have respect for what the outside of a building should look like. It looks better than some of the others down the street.”
City Officials On Lookout For Problem Properties
By: Steve Yablonski
Friday August 18 2006
www.oswegodailynews.com
OSWEGO, NY - Every rose must have its thorns, they say. However, city officials hope to reduce the number of “thorns,” along West Bridge Street.
Tony Leotta, foreground, and Neal Smith check the exterior of a building along the tour route.
Acting Mayor Randy Bateman, aldermen Ed Harrington and Dick Atkins, Zoning Administrator Tony Leotta, Code Enforcement Director Neal Smith, Housing Inspector Patricia Kelly and Community Development Director Mary Vanouse walked West Bridge Street, from West Second Street to approximately the "Forks of the Road."
The walk was part of what the acting mayor calls “a media splash to draw attention to properties in need of repair.” This time, the group concentrated on problem properties in that specific area of the city. Similar walks in other areas are likely.
Not all of the properties were “problems;” many were examples of what a little effort on the part of the owner could do, the city officials pointed out.
“We did see some nice properties,” Bateman said. “They’re good examples of what the city can look like.”
For example, he pointed to The Raven tavern and its pub style architecture.
“It has character,” Vanouse said.
“A very nice design,” Smith added.
“We going to figure out what needs to be done, who needs to do what and what letter will come from which department and so forth,” the acting mayor explained.
“Many of these same people have been warned repeatedly. Some have been cited in the past,” Kelly pointed out.
Leotta stressed the city isn’t being unfair to anyone; they are just upholding the law, he said. It’s a matter of health and safety in some places, he added.
A board with nails sticking out of it presents a problem on a porch.
Approximately 100 violations were uncovered during the two-hour walk that covered both sides of the street.
It really doesn’t take much effort in most cases to keep a property in good condition, Leotta noted.
A lot of the repairs were minor, something that could be remedied with a fresh coat of paint, Smith explained.
“Any time there’s exposed wood it has to have protective cover, which doesn’t necessarily mean paint but some type of siding or something,” he said.
“A paint job would improve more than half of the properties around here,” Atkins noted.
On one building on the north side of West Bridge Street, Bateman cited missing bricks as a problem.
“It’s not the missing bricks that are the problem,” Harrington noted. “It’s the ‘next missing brick’ that may land on someone’s head that’s the problem.”
“It’s really a rotten shame they’ve let this place deteriorate,” Atkins said of one former stately residence on the south side of West Bridge Street.
Most of the windows were boarded up or covered by weeds and tree limbs. A board had fallen from the porch roof and was sitting on the floor with several long, rusted, nails exposed.
City officials hope Thursday's tour will encourage property owners to repair cracked and rotted wood, add a fresh coat of paint, and in general, clean up their properties.
“All it takes is for one little (flaw) to make the rest of a house look bad,” Bateman pointed out. “A lot of the property owners around here are fixing up their places. That is a good sign, but more needs to be done.”
“Hopefully, this little walking tour will give the owners the added incentive they need to get out and take care of things,” Smith said. “When we walk around like this, we can really see where many of the violations are and get them corrected before they become serious problems.”
In some areas, city officials spotted what could be evidence of possibly illegal apartments; in one site a long orange electrical cord ran from a second floor window up into the attic window.
It’s becoming a trend now to rent attic space as an apartment, Kelly pointed out.
There were indications at many of the properties that repairs were under way. However, the property was still littered with chunks of sawed wood, beer and soda cans. Plastic covering in one area had blown off a roof and become tangled in a nearby tree.
“Some people have trouble bending over (and cleaning up after themselves),” Atkins said, indicating the small pile of debris shoved along the side of one house.
At another location, in between two properties on the north side, a wooden fence seemed ready to cave in on top of a neighbor’s vehicle.
In many areas along the city’s main thoroughfare, garbage was
piled up on the porches or in the narrow spaces between houses. Broken glass was scattered along the sidewalk in some sections.
Cracks were visible in steps and there were holes in the walls on some properties on the north and south side of the road.
Tattered garbage bags were secreted under front porches. A car door had been tossed under the porch at one residence.
There used to be a lot of trash concerns in the area, Smith said.
“I used to get a lot of complaints. They have really cleaned up their act along here,” he said. “The number of complaints doesn’t come in any more like they used to.”
Pointing to a pile of ripped plastic garbage bags and pieces of half-eaten food, Smith noted that, according to the city code, garbage must be in a can, with a lid.
He made several notes as he walked along the south side of the street and then the north side back to City Hall. Some property owners would be receiving citations, he added.
Bateman directed Smith and Kelly to send letters to the property owners notifying them of problems found at their properties and give them the chance to correct things.
tour hole in the wall
Some of the properties viewed Thursday had holes in the siding that were visible from the road.
Some former businesses still had signs or pieces of signs, affixed to their walls. When a business goes out of business, they have 60 days to remove their signs, Bateman said.
At several of the properties tall grass and weeds were cited as problems.
Huge milkweed plants choked part of one lawn.
“The milkweed plant is poisonous. The only thing that can eat it is the Monarch butterfly. And, other things won’t eat the Monarch because they know they are poison from eating the milkweed,” Kelly pointed out. “Maybe I should have saved that for our nature walk.”
Many of the buildings drew praise from the city officials. Pausing at one home, Atkins noted, “Why can’t they all look like this? They have respect for what the outside of a building should look like. It looks better than some of the others down the street.”