COUPLE SAYS KETTERING IGNORES CODE VIOLATORS
Official: City sent some violation notices, must follow ‘due process.’
A pair of east KetKETTERING — tering residents have asked the city multiple times to look into nuisances at nearby properties to protect the integrity of their longtime neighborhood, which officials said they are pursuing.
The pleas of husband and wife David and Peggy Leiffer of Ghent Avenue in Kettering echo those of property owners throughout the region who want their neighbors to keep properties clean and well-managed.
The Leiffers, who have lived in the same house for 49 years, said they have filed complaints alleging violations of the city’s code regarding junk vehicles and issues with property maintenance. They allege some neighbors living in the area continue to stockpile junk cars and other items on their properties.
“I’m complaining about the cars, trucks and the campers that people are parking in their yards,” he said. “I’ve been complaining about it for two years and there still is nothing being done about it. There are so many violations, that I could write 50 violations a week. I see the inspectors drive by but they are going so fast they don’t see anything.”
Kettering officials said they have been responding to the complaints, as they are also concerned about upkeep of the area’s properties. Councilman Rob Scott said that Zoning Administrator Ron Hundt has met with the Leiffers and walked through the neighborhood to look at theirconcerns
“Mr. Leiffer and I met and we went through a list (of alleged code violations) that he had,” said City Manager Mark Schwieterman, who added that he drove around the neighborhood with the planning and development director to look at the issues being raised. “We made notations of violations and no violations. We entered the violations into the system.”
After looking at the issues, the city did send out some notice of violations to residents and also what Schwieterman called a “friendly” notice, meaning that a resident was given a chance to correct a property issue before being issued a violation.
“Wehave been working that list of violations and checking things,” Schwieterman said. “We follow due process in all property maintenance issues. I’m not issuing notice of violations directly based on the (Leiffer’s) list, but we do it based on what our inspectors do out in the field on a regular basis.”
Kettering’s Community Information Manager Stacy Wall Schweikhart said the city has closed the official complaints made about junk vehicles in the neighborhood in the past year.
“We have had two violations for junk vehicles in the past year, both at the same address on Ghent,” she said. “Both closed because the property owner complied.”