Neglected houses fall through cracks

After an inspection two weeks ago at the Auburndale site, which has access on 47th Avenue but uses a 198th Street address due to the configuration of the houses, Avella alerted the city that the doors were unlocked and many windows were broken.

Since then, the city has boarded up several windows and doors and all the garages. Avella has also reached out to the Departments of Health and Sanitation because of the unsanitary conditions there. “Sanitation cannot go onto a property and clean it and bill the owner unless a health hazard has been issued,” he said. “We are working on that.”

But what particularly concerns area residents and Avella as well as City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) is the lack of a security fence on 47th Avenue.

Terry Pouymari, president of the Auburndale Improvement Association, says the site is a “blight to the community” and at the very least a construction fence should be erected to deter vandals and criminals. “The location is totally incomparable with the homes in the area,” Pouymari said. “It’s a detriment to the community and weakens the market value of homes nearby.”

Avella believes the abandoned location has slipped through the city’s cracks, even though there are four active Department of Building violations and 31 open Environmental Control Board violations. The ECB hears cases where people have been charged with breaking a city law related to health, safety and a clean environment.

“None of the city agencies are taking responsibility for the problems at this location,” Avella said. “There needs to be inter-agency cooperation.”

The property allegedly was taken over by the U.S. Bank National Association in Cincinnati, but letters sent by Community Board 11 and Halloran’s office have not been answered. “I got the runaround when I tried to call,” said CB 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld. “They’re not even sure the property belongs to them.”

The project dates back to 2003 when the property was purchased for development. There was one house on the site, which was razed. Construction started in 2005, but there was a problem with lack of space for Fire Department egress and no certificate of occupancy was issued by the city.

The development changed hands several times and in 2009, the property was transferred to the Cincinnati bank by a court-appointed referee. Pouymari said neighbors have been waiting for more than six years for the issues to be resolved.

“This was bad planning all around,” she said. “They should have been built facing 47th Avenue with one less unit.”

Seinfeld agrees. “The lot is a disgrace and they should either sell it or tear it down,” she said.

Why the development was ever allowed to proceed is a mystery. Officials believe most of the project was self-certified and many say if the developers hadn’t been so greedy by adding an extra unit, things might have turned out differently.

Halloran has been working to remedy the problems for more than a year, notifying city agencies, but getting little satisfaction.

Avella said he is now reaching out to a nonprofit group that buys distressed properties, fixes them up and then sells them through a lottery to see if this property qualifies.