November 10

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You may have noticed the peeling paint at 1603 Claremont.

1603_door_detail.jpg (15001 bytes)

The corner of the roof is rotting. The gutters are broken and parts of the downspout are gone.

1603_roof_detail.jpg (18955 bytes)

The yard is a garden of weeds, It was decorated by three abandoned cars until Mr. Treger did his thing.

When we called Codes Enforcement to ask what they were doing they refused to talk, and told us to file a Freedom of Information Act request. The results of that request were astounding:

The Environmental folks have cited this place five or six times since 1990. They have towed abandoned vehicles twice, and sent a City contractor to clean weeds out of the alley once.

The Code Enforcement file is even more interesting. Despite a citation in 1990 and the half dozen later visits by the environmental people, the Code Enforcement people stayed away from the place until one of our neighbors complained in June, 1996. They cited on 6/21/96 (peeling paint; roof & downspout in disrepair), took it to court, and got an order on 8/24/96. The owner did not show cause as ordered by 10/22/96; an inspection on 3/4/97 showed that the problem still was not fixed.

 Then Codes Enforcement did exactly nothing until August, 1998, when we complained about the condition of the property. On August 12 they closed their "Action File," marked it "Status: complied," and opened a new "Action File."  They inspected again on 8/20/98 (the file calls it an "initial visit"), and cited on 9/29/98 for peeling paint, gutters & downspouts in disrepair.

This would be a fine comedy if our tax money were not paying for it, and if 1603 Claremont were in somebody else’s neighborhood.

We have the correspondence with Mr. Cooper here.  In the meantime, on November 10, the safety committee circulated a petition at the Board meeting to send the property to Operation Squalor.   In January, the Grand Jury In January, the Grand Jury issued a presentment against the structure and the ownersThe Committee also The Committee also attempted to meet with the City to demand action.

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Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher