City leaders taking action to cleanup blighted neighborhoods

From problems with overgrown weeds to vandals dismantling vacant houses, about 40 residents were at the Columbus Public Library Thursday night looking for solutions to protect their neighborhoods.

The forum was hosted by the Public Safety Advisory Council with a focus on “What’s going on?” when it comes to abandoned or neglected properties. Residents were able to hear from managers in Special Enforcement, Inspections and Codes, Crime Prevention and other city departments for solutions.

John Hudgison of Inspections and Codes said he plans to seek approval this month to tear down 18 of 126 properties that meet requirements for demolition. It takes about $8,000 for the city to demolish a property but there is one on the list in the East Wynnton area that may require $21,000 to handle lead based paint and asbestos.

Most of the houses got on the list because windows are broken, missing doors and crumbling boards. If the cost to repair the property is more than 50 percent of the property’s value, Hudgison said it is suggested to tear down the property. If the property owner makes an attempt to cleanup the property, city inspectors will work with the owner.

Wallace Davis, former coach of Carver High School and who grew up in the East Wynnton neighborhood, said good neighborhoods are being destroyed by vandals. Davis said he has seen a truck riding through the neighborhood looking for a place to dump tires or old roofing. Vandals also are destroying houses in neighborhoods, he said.

“I feel like a house should be torn down long before you put a mark on the house,” Davis said. “If that house isn’t torn down in a short period of time, vandals are going to do it.”

Davis said vandals move into vacant houses by night and soon start ripping boards off the property to stay warm. “They start by pulling boards off the house and set it on fire,” he said. “They move in by night, stay in by day or when they get the opportunity. That is the crime hole.”

There also are cars in the neighborhood that have been on the streets for six months. “If somebody’s got a car on the road, ticket it or take it off the road,” he said. “Citizens wouldn’t mind it.”

Seth Brown, director of Crime Prevention, suggested that Davis and other residents pull out their cell phones and take pictures of illegal activity of dumping solid waste on vacant property and sent photos to his office.

“Those items, they make neighborhoods less safe,” he said. “ If you don’t feel safe, you are less safe.”

Drale Short, director of Special Enforcement and Animal Control, said overgrown weeds on lots and solid waste are problems in neighborhoods. To handle such complaints, Short said the city has to contact the property owner and give the person time to comply with the city’s ordinance. “Our goal is to bring the property into compliance,” she said.

During the forum, Geniece Granville, chair of the Public Safety Advisory Council, showed a picture of a house partially covered with some type of brush.

Granville said the problems facing neighborhoods are not just on one side of the city but the entire city. “People care about what happens to their neighborhood and street,” she said.

More forums will be conducted to give residents answers on other problems. “They will be on different topics, the second part if need be,” she said. “We will try to have a forum to give information.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 9:57 PM with the headline "City leaders taking action to cleanup blighted neighborhoods."