City cites landlords
Uniontown code enforcement officer and Fire Chief Myron Nypaver said he has been bolstering enforcement of the property maintenance code throughout the city. He said he has been concentrating his efforts in the North Gallatin Avenue area where the city has been working with the Gallatin Avenue Concerned Citizens group to apply for residential neighborhood redevelopment funding through the state’s Elm Street program.
In the North Gallatin Avenue and East End areas, Nypaver said, certain landlords do not maintain their rental properties, but collect rent from tenants living in unsanitary and unsafe dwellings.
Nypaver recently filed citations against three landlords at Magisterial District Judge Mark Blair’s office and said he plans to continue citing landlords who let their properties become blighted.
“We’re concentrating on habitual non-compliance landlords – landlords that don’t comply,” Nypaver said. “The city has placed a greater emphasis on results, and this is the only way to get positive results.”
He said fines for violating the International Property Maintenance Code, which the city adopted, range from $500 to $1,000 for each day code violations exist.
The most recent citations were filed against Diana Lee Galluza of East Main Street; Thomas J. Popovich Jr. of Richmond, Va.; and Adam Durst of Uniontown.
The citations stem from inspections Nypaver conducted Aug. 10.
Four citations were filed against Galluza for alleged code violations at two rental properties she owns. Two of the citations were for a rental property at 129 E. Askren St. and two were for 44 Stewart Ave.
One citation for 129 E. Askren St. was for alleged unsanitary conditions, deterioration and missing windows, and the second was for a structurally unsound garage.
One citation for 44 Stewart Ave., which has been condemned, was for alleged unsanitary conditions, vermin and rat infestation, unsafe electrical wiring and for being unfit for human occupancy. The second citation was for inadequate fire protection.
Two citations filed against Popovich were for 134 Mill St. One was for overgrown trees and weeds, and the second citation was for lack of exterior maintenance and accumulation of rubbish.
Durst’s citation was for excessive weed growth at 58 Maurice St.
“These owners have been given ample time to bring their properties up to code,” Nypaver said.
Nypaver said he will stop the practice of sending certified letters to habitual offending landlords, advising them of the violations as a courtesy to give them time to make the needed repairs, because they often don’t accept the letters and the cost of sending certified mail adds up.
“There’s a select group of landlords that have actually caused the deterioration of many neighborhoods,” Nypaver said.
“Although we’re working with the North Gallatin Avenue community, the problem is citywide.”
He said many of the rental properties were converted from single-family homes to multiple-family apartments, but the work does not comply with property and building codes.