Neighbors complain about unkempt lots but property owners, city say it’s not intentional

• Image

Adam Clarke says the vacant lots located across the street from his house in the 1200 block of West Hurst have long been a nuisance to the neighborhood. (Laura Wehde/Republic Photo)

Talk about it

An unkempt vacant lot in a southwest Mitchell neighborhood is a nuisance, a threat to public health and is reducing property values, according to two residents of the block.

Adam Clarke claims the lot in the 1200 block of West Hurst Street has long been overgrown with grass and noxious weeds, which supply a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The property is also often covering in standing water, and the combination creates an unpleasant odor, Clarke said.

“This property’s been a nuisance property since way back,” he said.

It’s owned by Bart and Julie Treveillyan of Valley Springs. They own five lots on the north side of the street.

Bart Treveillyan said he knows the grass has been high at times. But he said there’s a reason.

“The rain has been so excessive this year, it’s been difficult to mow,” Treveillyan said.

Clarke owns the home at 1201 W. Hurst St., directly across the street from the vacant lot. It’s a tidy home and the lawn was named Lawn of the Month by the Mitchell Area Garden Club last year.

He and his wife are selling the home, although he said that has nothing to do with his complaint. It has made it tougher to sell what he termed a $250,000 home.

What concerns him is his belief that the city has failed to take the proper steps to force the property owner to keep the lot in good condition. Clarke said neighbors have registered more than two dozen complaints with the city over the years.

“We don’t get phone calls back and when we do, they don’t do anything about it,” he said.

City officials said they have records of three complaints from Clarke. He may have called various departments, but Public Works is charged with ensuring the city’s nuisance property ordinance is enforced.

It was handled by the Police Department before most of the responsibility was shifted to Public Works in 2009, Mayor Lou Sebert said.

Police Investigator Toby Russell said he usually focused on junk cars, heaps of garbage and other unsightly problems. Public Works has always tried to address mowing concerns, he said.

“I only get the ones they don’t comply with,” Russell said.

Most people contacted by the city, as many as 75 percent of property owners, will clean up their property, he said. If they disagree with the complaints and citations, there is a city appeal board they can appear before.

Craig Magee, who lives next to Clarke, said he has also complained to the city. He said with the water in the lot, in addition to the retention pond behind their homes, his children are being placed at risk for West Nile virus and, potentially, drowning.

The vacant lot is uneven, with low-lying areas that hold water. Magee said that water ends up in their basements, forcing them to use sump pumps almost constantly.

In the past, Clarke was asked by the owner of the retention pond to stop running his pump into the pond, he admits, and stopped doing so.

City officials said they take nuisance complaints seriously, but admit the lack of a fulltime nuisance officer often slows efforts to abate nuisance properties.

“We’re not ignoring nuisances,” said Public Works Department Director Tim McGannon.

Clarke and Magee said they took part in a conference call with a city worker recently. They said they asked for action on the unkempt lot.

“They didn’t follow up,” Clarke said. “We call. They don’t follow up.”

McGannon said it’s difficult to determine who they spoke with or even if they did. There is no record of the call, he said.

Treveillyan said he hasn’t been told of any complaints.

“Nobody’s talked to us about it,” he said.

Tall grass, standing water

The grass on the West Hurst property was more than two feet high earlier this summer and Clarke, who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years, said that has been a regular problem.

The city’s nuisance ordinance prohibits unkempt yards.

It states: “No owner or occupant shall allow or permit grass, weeds, shrubs, bushes, trees or vegetation to grow, or to grow and die, into a state such that it constitutes a fire hazard, a harborage for insects, vermin or pests, or to otherwise be a hazard to public health, safety or welfare.”

There is also a prohibition on stagnant water in the ordinance.

Clarke said he wonders why the property owners get away with flouting the ordinance so blatantly for so long.

“Any normal property owner would have to get the grass mowed or the city would do it and bill them,” Clarke said.

Treveillyan said he and his wife have only owned the property for about two years.

“I’ve never received a complaint about it,” he said. “We try to maintain it. It’s just been extreme conditions.”

McGannon said there are far too many property owners in Mitchell who don’t properly maintain their lots, whether they live there, it’s rental property or, as in the West Hurst matter, a vacant lot.

“Not all landlords do a proper job,” he said. “We have some property that comes up time and time again. How many private lots does the city have to landscape?”

The city has a pair of files on nuisance complaints. They’re thick and getting thicker, Hegg said.

While the city can mow a lot and charge a property owner without a legal notice, in other cases, a property owner must acknowledge a letter sent certified mail from the city to get the process started.

Hegg said some people duck the letter for up to a month, slowing the process. When that happens, a police officer serves the paper.

The city charges a “pretty steep rate” for mowing lots, according to Mitchell Public Works Department building inspector John Hegg, who serves as a part-time nuisance officer.

“We don’t want to be in the mow business,” Hegg said. A private contractor mows the high grass.

In the winter, the city shovels numerous sidewalks, McGannon said.

Out-of-town residents are sometimes billed $100 to $200 a month, he said, but they’d rather pay the city than hire someone to do the job.

‘It smelled so bad’

Clarke said he has long wondered why no one has properly cared for the lot across from his home. He tried to buy it but his offer was rejected.

Treveillyan said he had the property mowed earlier this summer.

“Maybe it’s a logistics issue,” he said. “It’s just been extreme conditions we’ve had lately.”

Clarke used a pump he owns to start removing water from the lot Saturday. The Treveillyans later arrived and Clarke rented him his pump for $100 to finish the job.

“The water flooded into the street and overflowed,” Bart Treveillyan said. He said it’s a question of heavy rains, not intentional carelessness.

Clarke said it’s more than just an issue caused by a large storm. He said after the storms last week, the lot was filled with water, which caused an unfortunate side effect.

“Oh, it’s awful. It smelled so bad,” Clarke said. “It was like a sewer odor. It’s been that way for years.”

Noxious weeds in the vacant lot spread their seed, too, he said. “Our lawns are hard to keep weeds under control,” Clarke said.

He said he sees mosquitoes emerge from the lot and worries that skeeters carrying West Nile virus may pose a risk to kids in the neighborhood.

“They’re always outside playing,” he said.

Clarke said not only are these problems a health risk, they diminish the value of the property.

A full-time nuisance officer?

What puzzles Clarke is the lack of action the city has taken.

“It’s just disappointing by the city,” he said. “The city should be on top of it and make sure the property owners comply.”

Hegg said the property has been treated with larvicide to reduce the mosquito problem.

The city Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department has grant money it uses to treat pools of water that serve as mosquito breeding sites.

McGannon, while noting his department is not involved with treating sites in the city for mosquitoes, said if the city charged people, there might be less mosquito eradication.

Sebert said he inspected the West Hurst lot last year and noticed it had standing water in it.

“He does have a legitimate concern,” he said of Clarke’s complaint.

The mayor said the city may need to consider hiring a full-time nuisance officer.

“We work part-time on nuisances,” he said. “If you want to do it properly, you need a full-time one. Because of nuisance problems, not necessarily this one. There’s quite a few nuisance problems.”

Sebert said the nuisance problem was largely ignored when he took office. He said he has asked city staff to take it more seriously and feels steps have been taken.

“As far as what I’m concerned, we’ve done a lot with what we’ve got,” Sebert said.

The city adopted a new nuisance property ordinance in 2006. Hegg said he was asked to add nuisance officer duties to his workload without any increase in pay and agreed to do.

“I thought I’d be a valueadded employee,” he said. “I’m a team player. And I now I get all the heat for it.”

Hegg said he also feels a full-time nuisance officer is needed and said other likesized cities in the state have one. McGannon agreed. “We don’t have, quote, a ‘nuisance officer,’ ” McGannon said. The problem is cost, Sebert said. Hiring a full-time person to focus on nuisance properties would cost $60,000 a year or more, he said, with pay, benefits and expenses. Hegg has his hands full with inspections, paperwork and other issues, Sebert said. His primary duty is to work with developers, not to make sure people are mowing the grass on their property.

City Councilman Mel Olson asked to have the cost of hiring a full-time nuisance officer made a topic for discussion during budget meetings in August.

“I think we need a fulltime nuisance officer,” Olson said Wednesday.

He said there is plenty for such a city employee to do for at least two years. After that time, the nuisance officer could be assigned to assist other departments, while still checking on nuisances, Olson said.

To read the city’s nuisance ordinance, go to http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=519

Tags: news, local, nuisance, fccnetwork