Harrison officials find it's hard to fight housing blight in Natrona

In code enforcement, a fine line exists between issuing a citation and an opinion.

It contributes to making the process of transforming a blighted neighborhood, such as the Natrona section of Harrison township, long and arduous.

"How do you tell people they need to clean up their property if there's no legal violation?" said ordinance officer Ron Misjeka.

A house many would describe as deplorable might not violate an ordinance, as unlikely as it seems. As much as local officials would like to have the homeowner take steps to make the property more attractive, they say their hands might be tied.

"A lot of times it boils down to a situation where you can't impose your beliefs on someone," New Kensington code enforcement officer Rick Jacobus said.

Misjeka said it also complicates the process when it's obvious the homeowner doesn't have the means to make repairs. It won't preclude the township from issuing a warning or citation, but could allow for leniency.

"In some cases, these people don't know where their next dollar is coming from," he said. "They might not have the money to buy food."

Misjeka said the township isn't after money when it issues a citation for a code violation. More often than not, if a homeowner shows a willingness to bring a house up to code, officials are willing to work with that person to avoid levying a fine, he said.

Misjeka admitted that some homeowners and renters are wise to that and do their best to play the system.

According to records provided to the Valley News Dispatch, Misjeka has issued 66 written warnings since January 2004 to homeowners and renters who risk being cited and fined for failing to bring properties up to code.

Fines can be as steep as $1,000 per offense. In extreme instances, the township could condemn a house for demolition.

About 75 percent of those who receive a warning make the required repairs before the matter goes to court, Misjeka said.

The majority of the warnings for structural violations and vegetation overgrowth -- two of the more dangerous and unsightly offenses -- were written against homes in Natrona.

A majority of the warnings written for such things as drainage violations were issued against homes elsewhere in Harrison.

Those numbers pale in comparison to ones generated in New Kensington, which is of comparable size. According to Census 2000, about 15,000 people live in New Kensington and about 10,000 in Harrison.

New Kensington issues 75 to 100 warnings each month, Jacobus said. Most of those are resolved before the matter goes to court, he said.

New Kensington made a concerted effort about four years ago to crack down on code violations, hiring additional staff in the code enforcement department.

Councilman Mike Langer said the city was issuing about one-tenth the number of warnings then compared with now.

Jacobus said a majority of the warnings are for building code violations, rather than high grass and junk piles.

Shannon Powers, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Industry, said it's not uncommon to see a disparity in the number of warnings or citations issued in communities within the same region.

"In many cases, the number of citations issued community-by-community varies greatly," she said.

Powers declined to characterize Harrison officials as not doing enough to keep township buildings up to code.

"It's not so much a matter of enough not being done," said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park. "It's a matter of it being a never-ending process."

Ferlo was among 40 volunteers who collected trash Saturday from Natrona residents who were cleaning up their properties. The event was sponsored by the Natrona Comes Together Association, a group of activists seeking to restore aesthetic respectability to the neighborhood.

The association plans to hold similar events in the future.

Association members have said they want absentee landlords to take stock in the neighborhood. Some landlords will rent a property and ignore it, the association claims.

Misjeka said he wants to hold absentee landlords accountable. He said there are potentially dozens of landlords renting property in the township he can't identify.

Misjeka has a database of more than 50 landlords and recently identified 14 that he wasn't aware of several weeks ago.

More than 50 percent of the homes in Natrona are being rented, he said.

Misjeka is going door-to-door in an effort to track down landlords he can't identify by other means.

Misjeka said he recognizes that Natrona can't be turned around in the blink of an eye, which is the mindset New Kensington officials had when they launched their code enforcement campaign.

"Certainly, if a town has suffered 20 years of neglect, it's going to take more than a couple years to turn it around," Langer said.

Warning count

Since January 2004, the township has issued 66 written warnings for code violations ranging from unsafe structures to dog defecation.

13 for building code offenses: 10 (77 percent) in Natrona, and three (23 percent) elsewhere in the township.

16 for junk accumulation: Three in Natrona (19 percent), four (25 percent) elsewhere in the township, and nine (56 percent) listed without an address.

8 for drainage violations: One (13 percent) in Natrona, four (50 percent) elsewhere in the township and three (37 percent) listed without an addresses.

13 for overgrowth: Seven (54 percent) in Natrona, three (23 percent) elsewhere in the township and three (23 percent) without an address.

2 for dog defecation: One outside Natrona and one without an address.

1 for refuse collection: No address.

9 for vehicle violations: Two outside Natrona and seven with no location included.

2 burden of proof citations were issued involving properties in Natrona.

1 warning was given for a large trash container illegally located along Burtner Road outside Natrona.

1 warning was given for illegal construction. No address given.