Posted January 23, 200619 yr ADDITIONAL CODE-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS City stepping up its fight to curb blight Monday, January 23, 2006 Mark Ferenchik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Under a crush of complaints about shabby housing, junk cars and tall weeds, Columbus City Council is planning to add money for up to three new code-enforcement officers to the 2006 budget. While Columbus continues to grow and age, the city has lost 24 code enforcers since 2001, going from 99 to 75, according to a report prepared for City Council. That loss includes nine full-time code-enforcement officers who were not replaced when they quit or retired, and 15 seasonal employees who cut tall grass and boarded up vacant houses. Full story at: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/23/20060123-A1-05.html
February 23, 200619 yr Coleman readies new effort to clean up blighted buildings By Jodi Andes The Columbus Dispatch Thursday, February 23, 2006 12:49 AM For years, owners of abandoned and neglected houses in Columbus could make a few safe bets. Let a vacant structure decline into disrepair and they might get cited for code violations. But with no formal plan to combat the problem and a budget of only $100,000 a year to tear down blighted buildings, many could take it as a given that the city would turn a blind eye to the eyesores. "We haven't been aggressive enough," Mayor Michael B. Coleman said in an interview Tuesday. "It's something we kind of nibbled on. But now we're going to attack it head on." Full story at: http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=168211
February 23, 200619 yr ^ I love how the Brewery District and German Village areas are a big empty hole in that map. They should have included some of the buildings in RiverSouth just for fun. That Self Storage place comes to mind!
February 23, 200619 yr I was hoping for the Statehouse myself.... not the building itself, but what resides in it.
February 23, 200619 yr I was hoping for the Statehouse myself.... not the building itself, but what resides in it. That's not local jurisdiction. :-)
February 23, 200619 yr ^ I love how the Brewery District and German Village areas are a big empty hole in that map. They should have included some of the buildings in RiverSouth just for fun. That Self Storage place comes to mind! Campus is fairly empty of blighted properties according to that map as well.
February 23, 200619 yr Good luck with the Near East area. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 24, 200619 yr I'm glad the mayor has a plan to take care of blighted houses before they get out of control. Coming from Cleveland, I didn't really think there were many abandoned houses in Columbus. However, I bet that's what Cleveland mayor's said 30 years ago. They got out of control, and now they've got abandoned home numbers in the five figure range and don't have the funds to clean them up!
February 28, 200619 yr From the 2/28/06 Dispatch: City slows push for new rules on abandoned buildings Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Jodi Andes THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH An initiative to streamline the process by which landlords are held responsible for abandoned properties in Columbus has hit a slow patch. City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. drafted changes to the city code to help enforcement officers cite owners for code violations and then take them to court when they refuse to remedy problems. The proposed ordinance was given an initial reading before the Columbus City Council last night and normally would go back to the council for a final vote Monday. More at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/28/20060228-D5-00.html
March 13, 200619 yr Left to the lawless Abandoned homes breed crime and fear in some neighborhoods Sunday, March 12, 2006 Sherri Williams THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Standing on the sidewalk in front of his South Side home, Lee Estes appears to be enjoying the unseasonable warmth of a late-winter morning. But he actually is standing watch, waiting for his wife to return home. He wants to see her safely inside before he runs errands. Even during the day, he said, he stays alert for burglars and drug addicts who often wander along Heyl Avenue. The 800 block of Heyl where he lives is in a hot zone for drugs, Estes said. Users and dealers cruise the alley in back of his home or station themselves across the street in an abandoned brick triplex at 873-877 Heyl Ave. "People go back and forth," said Estes, 80. "There is dope anywhere you want it. It’s all over here." Full story at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/12/20060312-A1-01.html
May 1, 200619 yr City Hall’s very own blight Columbus is No. 2 owner of properties on Coleman’s ‘Worst of Worst’ list Monday, May 01, 2006 Story By Jodi Andes | Photos By Fred Squillante THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The house is a shell in a thicket of unmowed grass and weeds. Loose boards and broken windows might as well be revolving doors, the way the homeless and the drug dealers move in and out, said Marit Hubbard, a neighbor. He has been calling the city for a year to ask officials to pressure the abandoned house’s owner. But until last week, he didn’t know that he had been calling the owner all along. Columbus owns the duplex at 1839 S. 5th St. and 10 other properties that are on Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s list of "Worst of the Worst" neighborhood eyesores. Coleman announced the list during his State of the City speech. That makes Columbus the landlord with the second most entries on its list of the 376 most-blighted properties in the city. At No. 1 is the Stillwater Asset Backed Fund, a New York based investment portfolio involved in financing the pur- chase and resale of hundreds of Columbus properties. The city acquired the houses and vacant lots with the intention of fixing them up or selling them to someone else who could. It stepped in years after the former owners gave up but has left them in disrepair for as long as three years. "So how come they haven’t done anything since?" asked T. Davis, a woman who lives across from a weedy, littered vacant lot the city has held for a year and a half. She spoke on condition that her first name not be used, for fear of retribution from city officials. More at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/01/20060501-A1-00.html
May 8, 200619 yr From Business First of Columbus, 5/8/06: City Council to demolish vacant properties Business First of Columbus - 4:13 PM EDT Monday If the Columbus City Council gets its way, eight properties will never again see the light of day. Pending approval by council in its meeting later Monday, the city's Home Again initiative will begin the first phase of a six-year plan to acquire, rehabilitate or demolish vacant properties. The legislation proposes a withdrawal of $100,000 from the $25 million allotted over six years for the city's Home Again program to demolish eight properties located in downtown, south of Grandview Heights, German Village, and the Bexley-area. More at: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/05/08/daily3.html?surround=lfn
May 9, 200619 yr From the 5/9/06 Dispatch: $100,000 EMERGENCY LEGISLATION City to tear down blighted houses Tuesday, May 09, 2006 Jodi Andes THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH There’s never been enough money to knock down blighted houses that have been pulling down Columbus neighborhoods for years, city officials said. It was February when Mayor Michael B. Coleman vowed to reverse that trend by pledging $25 million to clean up and raze houses and to help prevent others from becoming eyesores. But it wasn’t until yesterday that the first of the money was approved to start the initiative. The Columbus City Council passed emergency legislation that sets aside $100,000 to tear down some of the properties. More at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/09/20060509-D5-00.html
July 25, 200618 yr Turning the corner City’s cleanup efforts encourage folks on E. Morrill Avenue Monday, July 24, 2006 Mark Ferenchik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Three months ago, Jeff Massie said he was through with E. Morrill Avenue, his home of more than four decades. He was tired of petty crime, drug-dealing, and confrontations with a surly neighbor. He talked of leaving the South Side street about a mile north of the former Buckeye Steel plant. But last week, he was painting the house he shares with his father. He’s sticking it out. Full story at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/24/20060724-B1-01.html
September 18, 200618 yr City gaining on neglected properties 72 owners sued; $1.1 million spent on repairs Monday, September 18, 2006 Jodi Andes THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Since Mayor Michael B. Coleman made eyesore properties a top priority six months ago, Columbus has demolished abandoned homes and enforced a tougher law to wrangle cooperation from one of the city’s worst property owners. City officials say they still have a long way to go, but they’re optimistic that they’re making progress on the problem. "Can you see an improvement in the neighborhoods in six months? No, not yet," City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. said. Full story at: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/18/20060918-B1-01.html
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