JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Residents of Allen Street in Jamestown are seeking answers from the city as the conditions of several condemned properties on their street continue to deteriorate.
“I just find it very disgusting, and I think it could cause health issues to somebody who walked by there and just happened to get in contact with that," Allen Street resident Creig Lofgren told WKBW. “I think just driving by with my family, and I consider it an eyesore.”
Lofgren continued, "I think the city could do something. I think it's a landlord's, responsibility to take care of these vacant properties that they own."
However, getting answers from city leadership has proven difficult for Lofgren and his neighbors. According to Lofgren, he had reached out to Mayor Kimberly Ecklund via Facebook about the growing pile of trash outside one abandoned home and says he has yet to hear back. Another resident who spoke with WKBW described trying to get answers from the city as "talking to a brick wall."
According to the city's website, "The City of Jamestown, through the Department of Development (DOD), removes condemned and deteriorated structures only as a last resort, after all efforts have been made to work with the property owner through the code enforcement process."
It goes on to say that in some instances, an owner has abandoned a property, "but responsibility remains with them."
One property another neighbor expressed frustration over was destroyed in a fire back in February. As of Thursday, the rubble remains. WKBW could not identify any codes in the City of Jamestown with a specific timeline for demolishing abandoned properties; however, Section 285-11 of the municipal code acknowledges a fee that increases each January for owners of abandoned properties.
WKBW reached out to Mayor Ecklund's office for a response to residents' concerns and was provided the following:
Our Director of Development, Crystal Surdyk, oversees Code Enforcement, including matters involving junk and debris on properties. She is currently out of town attending a conference focused on addressing blight, vacant, and abandoned properties, which is directly related to these types of issues.
We have reached out to Crystal for an update regarding the properties on Allen Street. Given her conference schedule and the length of the conference, we do not anticipate having additional information available until next week.
The City is aware of the concerns regarding the properties on Allen Street, and Code Enforcement is addressing these matters through the established enforcement process. As with any code violation, the City is required to follow the applicable laws and procedures governing enforcement. When a violation involves private property, there can be a number of factors that affect the timeline, including identifying and locating the property owner or other responsible party, properly serving required notices, changes in ownership, estates or heirs, providing the required opportunities for compliance or response, and, when necessary, pursuing matters through the court system. Depending on the circumstances of each property, these factors can make enforcement a lengthy and sometimes complex process.
These requirements apply to code violations throughout the City, and the City cannot bypass these requirements to expedite action on a particular property. We will continue to work through the appropriate procedures as these properties are addressed.
We will be happy to provide an update once we have additional information regarding the status of these individual cases within the Code Enforcement process.
