Here is a listing of postings in response to the report that the man arrested for the attack on Stanton Avenue was living in an abandoned house on N St Clair St. Rather than send out multiple postings, I combined them into one. I did not include the ones that were previously sent out to the list. ----- Original Message ----- From: Amanda Gillespie Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:02 PM Subject: Re: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest I believe this issue of abandoned houses is one being addressed by both mayoral candidates. Being that this is an election year, maybe it is worth letting them both know our collective concern. Amanda ********************* From: "Teri Rucker" <terirucker@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:06 PM Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest
If they are truly abandoned and deteriorating, tearing them down and creating a community garden would be a great idea.
************************* ----- Original Message ----- From: Rob Nichols Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:07 PM Subject: Re: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest There were homeless people coming and going periodically from 839 N. Saint Clair during the last year, the house had a broken pipe and water was running down through the house for months and filling up the basement, and there was a huge pile of debris behind the house - old furniture, household items, etc. I finally had it and lodged a complaint with the city and that accomplished a little bit. I would LOVE to see 839 and 841 N. Saint Clair razed, and other houses like them. Bottom line: we have to make our voices heard about abandoned properties. Can anyone confirm what Mr. Riggins says about the city being legally bound to tear down abandoned buildings after a certain amount of time? **************************** From: "Roberta Shope" <RobertaShope@howardhanna.com> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:18 PM Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest
I don't think it's correct, legally speaking, that abandoned buildings must always be torn down, but only if they're uninhabitable & condemned. Further, if they can be purchased by someone who will rehab them, we gain new neighbors & preserve our neighborhood's architectural heritage.
Roberta Shope
****************************** From: "James Riggins" <jriggins@pts.edu> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:09 PM Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest
Any buildings that are abandoned and considered public nuisance and/or dangers to the neighborhood they're in are able to be inspected by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Building Inspection. People from that neighborhood need to call and make a formal complaint to the City about a property or group of properties and request that dept. to do an inspection. The inspector's) will then make a determination as to if the building should be demolished/refurbished, etc. It will also be important to find out who the owner of the properties is/are and put pressure on them to deal with their properties (the city can do this, and the community can also do this if we know who the owner(s) is/are. The first thing to do is to report the address of where the building is to the Bureau of Building Inspection; their website is http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/BBI/ Especially in this case, if the man who committed the atrocious act of sexual assault was living in an abandoned home on N. St Clair, then that is a matter of serious community safety.
From: "James Riggins" <jriggins@pts.edu> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 9:26 PM Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest
If I gave inaccurate info earlier, I apologize; but still something needs to be done about such buildings in OUR neighborhoods that are eyesores and potential hazards of safety.
From: Jessica Miller Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:03 PM Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Morningside rapist arrest If the ELDC boarding's up of the houses works, it seems preferable to losing the architecture. Jessica Miller