Demo board sets sights on 23 houses

Nuisance declarations could be coming

The Lorain Demolition Board will consider 23 properties when it resumes deliberations Oct. 19.

Board members had an organizational meeting in September to discuss the revised city process for dealing with homes that are potentially unsafe, dangerous and nuisance properties in Lorain.

The board will convene at 9 a.m., Oct. 19, in the firstfloor City Council chamber at Lorain City Hall, 200 W. Erie Ave.

The units under consideration are:

• 3037-3039 Cromwell Drive • 2887 Grant Ave. • 235 Florida Ave. • 2249 Beech Ave. • 341, 330 and 305 W. 23rd St. • 4310 Meister Road • 4248 Leavitt Road • 1296-1298 Massachusetts Ave.

• 494, 308, 315, 324, 325, 520, 550, 637, 685 and 1039 W. 14th St. • 488 W. 13th St. • 1348 W. Erie Ave. • 3045 Tressa Ave. On Sept. 21, board members discussed the process to examine and condemn the houses.

City inspectors will obtain search warrants to enter the buildings. They will visit the residences and document their findings, then present that information to the Demolition Board.

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

On the list, 3045 Tressa Ave. was the test case during the Sept. 21 board meeting.

Housing Inspector Eric Elmi displayed photographs of the house, which generally was in terrible shape.

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

The house at 1348 W. Erie Ave. has gained some notoriety among city observers in Lorain.

In 2014, the house set a record for Lorain’s point of sale housing inspection program.

At the time, city inspectors estimated a repair bill of at least $47,750, which was the largest escrow amount required for a home.

Lorain writer Loraine Ritchey of the Charleston Village Society Inc. has targeted the home in her online blog, which offers commentary on city politics, history and other topics.

Ritchey used it as an example of problematic ownership and neighborhood deterioration in the city.

The house sold in June and now is owned by FICC Realty Holdings LLC, according to records from the Lorain County Auditor’s Office.