Washington council wrestles with rundown houses
Courtesy of Dawn Law
A garage that sits in the backyard of 35 E. Hallam Ave. in Washington is near collapse and leaning toward the next-door property.
Courtesy of Dawn Law
A garage that sits in the backyard of 35 E. Hallam Ave. in Washington is near collapse.
An East Hallam Avenue resident complained to Washington City Council Monday about three vacant homes on her street that have become eyesores.
Dawn Law said a dilapidated garage at 35 E. Hallam Ave. is nearing collapse, and leaning over onto her property.
“It’s going to fall, and I’m going to be responsible for cleaning it up,” she said at the City Council meeting. “If you own property, maintain it or get rid of it. I shouldn’t have to clean up after somebody else.”
According to county tax records, the house was last assessed at $86,600. Law, who lives next door, said the owners moved out about five years ago.
“I haven’t seen anybody out there lately,” she said. “I know there are feral cats coming and going out of that garage.”
According to court records, the property owner was cited in 2017 for a rental registration violation by the city’s code enforcement officer, Ron McIntyre, who died in January.
That house, along with two houses at 31 and 36 E. Hallam Ave., have been vacant for years, Law said. The house at 36 E. Hallam was assessed in 2018 at $95,700, and the house at 31 E. Hallam Ave. was assessed at $102,300, according to tax records.
Aside from those three properties, Law said her street is well-kept by homeowners who “take pride” in their residences.
“This isn’t a bad street,” she said. “At Halloween, there are lots of houses that decorate, and people take pride in the appearance of their homes. But it affects you if you live next to a dump. It’s like, why bother?”
Law said she had spoken with McIntyre about the properties. Washington Mayor Scott Putnam told Law Monday that the city is “in the process of reviewing résumés for Ron’s position.” Until a replacement is hired, Putnam said that council, along with the fire and police departments, are “working together to do the job Ron was doing.”
Washington fire Chief Gerald Coleman said he and other city officials are “teaming up” to stay on top of code enforcement-related complaints from the last six weeks since McIntyre’s death. He said the three houses on East Hallam have been the “worst cases we’ve had” in those six weeks.
“The property maintenance process in a court of law is a long, long, tedious process, and it’s a thankless job,” Coleman said. “It takes a good four to six weeks to get before a magistrate on a citation. We’re all trying to maintain until we get someone hired and trained.”
At this point, Law said, she’s not sure if the house at 35 E. Hallam Ave. can be “flipped or fixed up,” and suggested that the city may want to consider adding it to a demolition list.
“The folks at the city, they’re the only ones that have the ability to do anything about it,” Law said. “They should be citing them. Clean it up or get rid of it. Knock it down.”
Putnam mentioned Monday that the city has worked to decrease the number of properties on its demolition list, which is now under 10 properties.
“Ron always kept a good handle on what needed to be added to that list,” Putnam said Tuesday. “The new officer will be charged with updating that demolition list. Oftentimes, there’s a long process for getting a property on the list.”