District attorney to address Brownsville blight
BROWNSVILLE – Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said she will be handling the next code enforcement case involving Brownsville property owner Ernest Liggett in Fayette County Common Please Court. Liggett, who resides in Allegheny County, has an appeal hearing scheduled for Sept. 20 before Judge Steve Leskinen. Previously, the cases had been handled by Brownsville Borough solicitor Melinda Dellarose, Vernon said.
“These are properties he’s been ordered to clean up by Judge Leskinen, so we’re looking at contempt issues there. Something has to be done,” Vernon said. “He could be facing incarceration for failure to abide by the order of the court.”
Vernon said her asking for a possible jail sentence for Liggett for contempt is separate for any actions that could be taken under a new state law that allows landowners who repeatedly violate the building maintenance code to be tried criminally.
The actions against Liggett are part of the first year of targeted code enforcement in downtown Brownsville. County and borough officials say they have no intent of slacking off on the project.
The Brownsville Revitalization Initiative for a Great Home Town (BRIGHT) Tomorrow started last year with a $150,000 grant presented by Gov. Ed Rendell. About half of the money has been spent to date, with it paying for a code enforcement officer, an office in Brownsville and attorney’s fees as code violation cases go to court.
“The (Fayette County) Redevelopment Authority has supplemented the funds. We were able to do some cost-sharing so that funding will last us longer than the original year,” said Andrew French, redevelopment authority executive director.
The redevelopment authority is obtaining another $200,000 in state funding for the initiative, according to French. The authority has hired Ritenour and Sons Construction of Connellsville to demolish two buildings in Brownsville’s “Neck” at a cost of $138,600. The “Neck”, adjacent to the Cast Iron Bridge on Market Street, is said to be the narrowest point along the entire length of the National Road.
The demolition work is expected to be completed by the end of August. Both buildings have been condemned because of safety concerns. One is owned by the redevelopment authority, which received it as a donation from the previous owner who could not maintain it. Liggett owns the other. A real estate developer participating in an inspection of the building in April fell through the floor of the building, breaking his wrist.
“There are more than two buildings that are unsafe. We had to prioritize,” said Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich, who is chairwoman of the community and economic development committee of Brownsville Borough Council. “If you’re a property owner, you have to take responsibility.”
French said all 129 properties in the targeted enforcement area have been inspected. Those properties include 25 occupied commercial buildings, 25 vacant commercial buildings, six government-owned properties, three occupied churches, one vacant church, two human services sites, three clubs, 22 occupied residential structures, 14 vacant residential properties, two garages, 15 private or public parking lots, two parklets, seven vacant lots, five of which are government-owned and two billboards.
French said that code enforcement officer Don Baugh has sent out 38 violation notices over the past year.
“Seven property owners have addressed their deficiencies. Seven more are currently working to correct the deficiencies,” French said.
French said 46 citations have been issued – all to Liggett – with some being repeat violations.
“He has made no significant effort to improve his properties,” French said.
French said 12 of the cases against Liggett are pending hearings in district court. He said Liggett has been found guilty in district court in 34 other cases, all of which Liggett has appealed.
Fines in the cases total more than $100,000, according to French, with the fines on one property, 149 High St., going up by $200 a day. Liggett had been ordered by Leskinen to tear that building down by October 2005.
“We’ve been working with the district attorney’s office to try to get some enforcement,” French said. “There are provision in Pennsylvania law on the fourth and fifth conviction. It falls into the criminal category. With the fifth conviction, it’s a penalty of up to five years in jail.”
French noted that a 76-year-old landlord in Lancaster was jailed after refusing to pay his fines for repeated violations, including one for a broken toilet.
“If someone who has a broken toilet can be thrown in jail, obviously we have a much more extreme case,” French said.
“We have a broken town,” said council President Jack Lawver.
Calls to Liggett’s business and cellular telephone were not returned. Attorney Sean Audley, who previously represented Liggett in the property matters, has withdrawn from the case and his office did not have the name of Liggett’s current attorney.