BengalNews Reporters
The city is reviewing its pending code violations policy to urge property owners to repair their business, residential and investment properties in hopes of preventing taking cases to court and prolonging actual renovations.
The current policy only considers violations at the actual, individual location of the property but through a possible revision of the policy, all of the properties owned by an individual would be evaluated. Blighted properties are the cause to the turmoil in a neighborhood, lawmakers and neighborhood activists have warned in the past.
The city permits and inspections division sent a plan to city attorneys to force business owners and contractors, licensed by the city, to reveal any pending cases their properties currently have in the Buffalo Housing Court.
“In the long run, this policy should improve the overall appearance of the city, as housing violations and property maintenance issues would have to be corrected," said Patrick Sole Jr., director of permit and inspection services.
The overall affect of altering the policy would bring more properties in the city up to code compliance. Properties would be required to correct existing housing violations in order to obtain a license, Sole said.
Requiring business owners and contractors to sign affidavits disclosing any housing court cases would allow the city to more effectively address code violations and in some circumstances be able to fix problems more efficiently.
“This policy could impact the number of court cases in housing court, however, the hope is that violations are corrected through notice of violations to the owners and without initiating housing court action,” Sole said.
Reinvestment into the neighborhood is required for the city’s West Side to overcome its stereotypical urban obstacles, Niagara District Common Councilman David Rivera said. However, the Columbus Park Association is prompting some debate by asking local politicians and urban planners whether reinvestment is worth removing landmark historic properties from the community.
The city should look to other states that have faced problems with blighted properties for solutions, Kathy Mecca said.
Mecca is involved with preserving St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill-Episcopal Church on Vermont Street, which has faced media attention because of its deteriorating condition, an absent owner and targeted location.
The owner, who had been in housing court for two years, only was able to contribute minor repairs to the property. Only $50,000 of the total $175,000 repairs was paid for, Mecca said.
The city sold the property to her for $17,000 without having her demonstrate financial capability to do what she intended, Mecca said.
To prevent this problem in future renovations, Mecca said the city should consider a policy that does not allow individuals interested in purchasing additional property if they have more than two pending code violations.
The church sits on the outer edge of the city’s proposed demolition zone for its Peace Bridge expansion plan. The plan calls for a 45-acre demolition including five city blocks of homes and buildings, a total of 90 properties and 128 households. The removal of these properties would make way for an updated and modern bridge construction and a Duty Free shopping plaza.
“The simple truth is if you enforce the laws that exist you wouldn’t be in the condition and the situation you are now,” Mark Maiskovski, vice president of Columbus Park and a historic property owner of a home on Busti Avenue, said. “Surely, you can’t control a private owner from doing whatever they want internally, but you could certainly control them externally – that’s what housing and code violations are all about.”
St. Mary's-on-the-Hill Episcopal Church is a stunning representation of exquisite architecture on the West Side community. One could appreciate its precise brick work or be stunned by its stark presence in the surrounding neighborhood landscape. The church however is quickly cast by its community's negative connotation for run-down properties and crime because of the plywood strapped to its doors. Aside from the controversy surrounding the preservation of the church, analyzing its current appearance trumps its history in the city of Buffalo. What happened to this Buffalo landmark? The city has however had some success stories in terms of preserving historic properties. The former C.W. Miller Livery Stable (Hertz Garage) downtown on Huron Street boasts the same neighborhood-dominating architectural appearance. The former stable was once a premier and luxurious home to equine inhabitants and though vacant since 2000 is planned to be renovated into apartments. Sam Savarino, the purchaser of the stable, has also developed and proposed possible plans for renovating St. Mary’s. -- Stacie Duderwick
ReplyDeleteWhat would you do if your neighborhood’s historical essence were to be taken away in a blink of an eye?
ReplyDeleteKathy Mecca, president of the Niagara Gateway Columbus Park Association, expresses her concerns about the demolition of her treasured home. The Peace Bridge Authority put forward a plan to expand its current truck plaza from 14 acres to 45 acres of land. The project includes confiscating over 100 homes, 15 businesses and cut down 350 trees. Over $25 million in tax assessment will be lost a long with Prospect Hill/ Columbus park district’s pre-Civil War – structures.
With the help of the community, Mecca and her group hope to stop the demolition. They refuse to allow their Olmsted parkland to drastically turn into a cement-covered blanket of urban landscape. Their goal is to fight against politicians who appear to be destroying their valued neighborhood. Community leaders have created flyers to distribute to people who want to join the cause and participate in the movement.
“Niagara Gateway Columbus Park Association, Save/Don’t Pave without trucks, you’d be there by now!” is the campaign's slogan according to the flyer distributed by the Columbus Park Association. - Stephanie Ortiz
Air pollution is something that is affecting many of the people living in the Prospect Hill area. Every Monday morning, Kathy Mecca pulls out a white baby onesie and wipes down the screens in her home. By the time she is done, the onesie looks as though it has been tie-dyed with black ash and dirt.
ReplyDeleteWith the Peace Bridge only down the street from the neighborhood, heavy traffic has caused a great concern for the air quality.
The proposed Peace Bridge Expansion Project is feared to only make the existing condition worse, and has troubled many residents in the area. The following statistics, posted on MoveThePlaza.com, are proof that this is an issue that needs to be addressed:
• The New York State Department of Health said the lung and bronchial cancer rates in the expansion area are 50 to 100 percent above the expected norm in middle-aged males and 15 to 49 percent for women.
• Around 22,000 residents living in the West Side have a respiratory illness, which is almost three times higher than other areas in the city.
The Web site also said that there are around 25,000 kids under the age of 18 living in the West Side. Mecca’s weekly screen cleaning and its display of what residents are breathing in is enough to make you sick. - Jolene Zanghi