Demo Board ready to resume

The city of Lorain is finishing details on its legal process to condemn and demolish homes that have become public health nuisances.

After a hiatus lasting months, the Lorain Demolition Board of Appeals reconvened Sept. 21 to examine conditions of the worst houses in town.

In the past, the board met to examine the findings of city inspectors sent out to look for overgrown plants, trash and dangerous building conditions in homes.

The board will resume deliberations Oct. 19.

Once the process is in place, Lorain Safety-Service Director Dan Given said the board aims to consider 20 properties a month as a way to clean up Lorain’s neighborhoods by getting rid of the vacant, derelict dwellings.

In the Sept. 21 meeting, Given was voted chairman and he outlined the updated process for the city to compile a target list of Lorain’s worst houses.

City inspectors will obtain search warrants from Lorain Municipal Court. They will visit the sites and document their findings, then present the information to the Demo Board.

The board will consider ordering the house a nuisance to public health that should be abated, most likely through demolition when money is available.

In a trial run to see what the city staff find, city Housing Inspector Eric Elmi displayed photographs of the house at 3045 Tressa Ave.

The yard was overgrown and the inside was filled with trash and animal feces. Cardboard boxes showed signs they were chewed by rodents.

City Electrical Inspector David Velez said the

photos did not truly show just how dangerous the site was.

“There’s a lot of damage that you don’t see from the pictures,” Velez said.

During the inspection, the city staff crossed through the kitchen one by one, Velez said, because they feared if they all walked in at once, they might break through the floor and fall into the basement.

The house looked “deplorable” and it will be on the hit list when the board resumes in October, Given said.

Given and Chief Building Official Richard Klinar said Velez and other city inspectors need to share those comments during the presentation for the board to consider.

If a homeowner asks for time to clean and repair the properties, the board may consider granting time for that.

However, Klinar recommended against dismissing any case, which once happened for a property owner who never followed through on promises to renovate a home before the Demo Board.

That issue was one of a number of legalities the board members discussed.

One of the touchiest legal issues is ensuring the city gives adequate legal notice to property owners, along with anyone who has a legal interest in the homes.

The city will use regular and certified mail and post notices on the properties involved, Given said.

“There is a large number of people that have these properties that understand how the system works and they will do whatever they can to not accept legal service,” he said. “It’s going to be our need to work harder and smarter to make sure that we cover all of our bases to hopefully get rid of these properties that are in a dire strait in our community.”

Assistant Law Director Kenneth Resar pledged to research several of the legal issues to help the Demo Board.

Resar also suggested ways to document the photographs and reports for city evidence, and to swear-in city staff, property owners and anyone who would speak to the board in its formal deliberations.

Among the Demo Board members and city staff attending were Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Radman; Doug Hasel of the city Engineering Department; Jill Lis of the Lorain County General Health District; and Armando Francisco, citizen appointee of Mayor Chase Ritenauer.