Mountains of garbage bags, splintered doors, cracked sink basins and branches were piled high Friday morning on the corner of E. 65th and Sebert Avenue.
The small but diligent group of volunteers worked quickly in the rain to pick up trash and discarded needles strewn across the yard. While major structural issues remained, such as a collapsed porch and smashed windows, there was a marked difference in how the property looked compared to before.
It鈥檚 a site that has long plagued the Slavic Village neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side as a hotbed for crime and drug use.
The property owner is doing nothing to address the concerns, said Ward 12 Councilmember Rebecca Maurer. In the owner's absence, she mobilized a group of volunteers to take action.
鈥淲hen we have trash and drug paraphernalia accumulating on a lot like this, it鈥檚 not just an eyesore, it鈥檚 a safety issue,鈥� Maurer said. 鈥淚t attracts crime, it attracts poor decision making 鈥� We couldn鈥檛 let it go on like this.鈥�
A midday shooting last Friday afternoon was the 鈥渇inal straw,鈥� said Neighborhood Pets Executive Director Becca Britton. Britton鈥檚 clinic serving low-income pet owners is across the street from the property. She said she鈥檚 been raising alarms with the city for over a year.
鈥淩ight now, the neighborhood is inundated with drug use, crime and just simply garbage,鈥� Britton said. 鈥淎ll of us business owners, residents, and people who visit Slavic Village are tired of it.鈥�
It鈥檚 clear the cleanup efforts were not only much needed, but much appreciated. Passersby honked their horns at volunteers and jabbed thumbs up, while a woman across the street shouted and cheered from her open window.
Maurer said she鈥檚 been receiving complaints about the area before she even entered office, citing it as a prime example of property-owner negligence.
It鈥檚 a growing problem in Slavic Village. Property owners, Maurer said, are holding tight to their dilapidated buildings in hopes that enough people will fix up their homes to increase property value for incoming developers.
鈥淧eople think they have the golden goose,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey think they bought properties in the 鈥榥ext Tremont鈥� 鈥� but what鈥檚 happened is we now have this commercial corridor of people holding onto buildings and not fixing them.鈥�
City officials like Maurer have been increasingly vocal about bringing negligent property owners to task in a city with a large renter population, aging housing stock and potentially dangerous vacant lots.
The recently-passed city budget allotted $600,000 more than originally proposed to the Department of Building and Housing. Director Sally Martin said the city intends to use the funds to hire six new inspectors and aims to be more 鈥減roactive鈥� with code enforcement instead of responding to complaints.
Council members are also exploring other long-term strategies to address the issue, Maurer said, such as updating housing codes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e out here today almost to say, 'We know we can鈥檛 fix those long-term issues overnight, but some things are in our control,'鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd a cleanup like this is in our control, so let鈥檚 come together to do it, but we鈥檙e absolutely looking at those long term changes.鈥�
