Allegheny Township homeowners plead for help with dilapidated neighboring properties

Several Allegheny Township residents want to know what township officials can do about ongoing problems associated with rundown, neglected and vacant properties next to their homes.

Three people attended this week’s supervisors meeting, all voicing their frustrations about living next to what they said are unsightly and unsafe structures and yards.

All say they’ve seen no help from the township, sometimes for years.

“I fear, if I go to sell my house, I won’t get what I should because of this,” Deborah Renwick told the supervisors, referring to the property next door to her neatly kept residence along Ridge Avenue.

Renwick said she contacted the township multiple times over the past decade seeking help but that Code Enforcement Officer Lee Schumaker only recently showed up to check on the property.

“I need something done. I have been dealing with this for 28 years,” Renwick said. “This devalues my house. We work all our lives for our houses, and then we have to look at this. People say it’s disgusting and horrible.”

Renwick noted she previously had a rat problem at her home and had to place covers over her sewer outlets to keep vermin out. She blames the rat issues on the overgrown and unkempt property.

“Schumaker said it could take a long time to get it cleared up. They told me they’re going to have the mortgage holder come in this week and clean this all up,” Renwick said.

Schumaker was unavailable for comment and did not attend Monday’s meeting.

Township officials declined to provide Schumaker’s phone number or email address and said Schumaker is on vacation.

John Crissman sets up rat traps daily outside his residence along Route 356 in Allegheny Township.

He said he sees dead rats often and is fed up with what he said is complacency among some township officials.

His rodent problem, he said, is the result of living next door to a vacant and overgrown residence littered with an abandoned boat, televisions, a refrigerator, a bathtub and more.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review

One of several dead and decaying rats located Monday on the grounds of a vacant property located at 1767 Route 356 in Allegheny Township.

“I have called the township for years, and nothing has been done,” said Crissman, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting because of his work schedule.

Crissman received a letter in the mail Monday from the township in response to his most recent complaint letter.

In his letter, Crissman noted the neighboring property hasn’t been mowed in four years. It has appliances and building materials strewn among the property.

“I have contacted code enforcement about this ongoing problem for several years without a call back or resolution,” Crissman wrote.

The township responds

Township Manager Greg Primm explained the process of a municipality acting on abandoned homes.

“The process has been initiated. We just can’t go and enter the property without the owner’s permission,” Primm said.

Eric Womeldorf lives next door to an abandoned property on Jennifer Street. He addressed supervisors Monday and said the property has been deteriorating for years.

“If any parts of it (the house) falls on my property, the insurance says I’m responsible,” Womeldorf said. “There are neighborhood kids playing around the house. Kids will be kids. The house has been (for sheriff’s sale because of back taxes), but the taxes are somehow paid three days before the sale.”

Supervisor James Morabito heard about the concerns and met with Crissman this month.

“I take the complaints of the residents personally. No one should have to deal with these types of situations, especially when the residents have gone through the proper channels with code enforcement,” Morabito said. “As a taxpayer in Allegheny Township, I would not stand for this. I would not expect anyone else to, either.”

Crissman credited Morabito with putting the spotlight on vacant, unkempt properties.

“I think I finally got a letter because they knew the press was on it, and Supervisor Jamie Morabito is helping. He’s the only supervisor that gives any information out. He’s trying to help me,” Crissman said.

Crissman’s message to township officials?

“The code enforcement needs to happen. They need to make her clean the freakin’ place up,” Crissman said about the homeowner.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review

A boat, tub and refrigerator occupy the lawn of a vacant and rundown home along Route 356 in Allegheny Township.

Supervisor Ren Steele visited Crissman’s property several years ago, but Crissman said no action was taken.

Steele responded Tuesday to residents’ complaints, noting there is a legal process that must be taken to address each property.

“We have to deal with the situation in a step-by-step process,” Steele said. “We can’t allow animals and leaky roofs and dangerous situations with neighbors, so we have to move forward with this. But, again, it has to be done legally.”

Steele said property owners must be notified by the district justice and fined.

If fines are not paid, Steele explained, the township can request the mortgage holder foreclose on the property or the township can have it condemned. Such properties then could be moved to a land bank like the one Westmoreland County runs and sold for outstanding taxes and fines at a county sheriff’s sale.

According to Primm, 1767 Route 356 is owned by Kim Feil and was listed for sheriff’s sale last week.

Feil could not be reached for comment.

Crissman said his biggest concern over the “eyesore” property is how it could reduce the value of his home.

“It’s a safety hazard and it’s a dump. It should be condemned and torn down,” Crissman said.

Zane Rapp, 25, lives next door to the same property as Crissman.

Rapp said his fiancee purchased their home, and the first time he saw the overgrown property was on move-in day.

“I said ‘that sucks’ when I first moved in. It’s a downside. The township should tear it down. It’s inconvenient and an eyesore. I would buy it if I could and tear it down,” Rapp said.

Currently, Feil is being fined every five days for high grass, which is the code that is being violated, Primm said.

“Compliance is the ultimate goal. We work with property owners to gain compliance, not to make money from fines. If a property owner ignores warnings, then citations are filed to further encourage compliance,” Primm wrote in an email Aug. 4.

Jay Snyder, 55, has lived across the street from the now-vacant property his entire life.

“It was my grandmother’s house, and my mother grew up in that house,” Snyder said.

Snyder’s three cats drag dead rats over from the property every day, he said.

“Just cut the grass and clean it up. I want to see it taken care of. It used to be a rental, and it’s been unoccupied for about five years,” Snyder said. “I’m scared to death of snakes. I wouldn’t go over there.

“It makes me sad because my mom was raised in that house. It was a really nice house.”

Snyder said he hasn’t filed any complaints with township officials.

“I wanted to, but I never did. I try and stay out of everyone’s way,” he said.

Morabito said he is fielding calls from other residents complaining about nuisance properties.

“I hear from them at least four times a week,” Morabito said.

Township residents with comments and concerns are encouraged to email Greg Primm at primm@alleghenytownship.net, Steele said.

Joyce Hanz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joyce at jhanz@triblive.com or via Twitter @hanz_joyce. Contributing writer George Guido contributed to this report.