Truesdale city leaders taking steps against ‘dangerous’ lot
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Posted 2/9/17
The overgrown, dilapidated concrete frame of a basement is all that was ever built at 237 Conrad Circle in Truesdale. After 10 years of the lot being vacant, city leaders are ready to declare the …
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Truesdale city leaders taking steps against ‘dangerous’ lot
Posted
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
The overgrown, dilapidated concrete frame of a basement is all that was ever built at 237 Conrad Circle in Truesdale. After 10 years of the lot being vacant, city leaders are ready to declare the property a danger to residents.There is an open dirt trench across the front of the foundation, with the ground sloping down until it is level with the basement in the back. The property owners previously were made to put a chain link fence around the foundation because children were playing around it, said Alderman Robert Green, who lives next to the property.The owners of the property inherited it and do not live in Warren County, City Administrator MaryLou Rainwater said.Since taking charge of the property about 10 years ago, officials say the owners have shown little interest in maintaining it or finishing any improvements on it. There are now questions of whether the concrete frame is structurally viable, with large cracks visible in the foundation.The property has a for sale sign, but city leaders are skeptical a developer would take on the cost of tearing out the degrading foundation when they could just start fresh on a different lot.The owners also habitually fail to mow the grass around the property, officials said. Police Chief Andy Huston said officers have issued a number of tickets for high grass nuisance violations. The owners pay the fine and mow the lawn, and then the cycle repeats, he said.All together, it has become a situation city leaders say needs to be escalated until it is resolved. That means calling upon an ordinance mandating the repair or demolition of dangerous buildings.The owners could be fined up to $500 each day that they do not comply.“Since they don’t appear to respond to anything we do, maybe it’s time to go for the dangerous building hearing,” advised City Attorney Tim Joyce. “If that doesn’t get their attention, I don’t know what will.”To declare the structure as a dangerous nuisance, Truesdale’s Board of Aldermen must first hold a public hearing where the owners have a chance to speak. After that, the board can make a finding of whether the property must be repaired or demolished.If the owners have failed to pay taxes on the property for several years, the city could also force the sale of the lot, Joyce said.“We’re going to have to do it sooner or later, anyway. We might as well do it now,” said Alderman Stanley Brookshier. “They’ve had years, and we don’t have their attention any longer.”
An unfinished basement foundation has been left vacant and exposed at 237 Conrad Circle in Truesdale for 10 years, officials say. City leaders are taking action against the owners of the property. Record photo.
