We've got to get our own stuff cleaned up before we go after anybody else. Dennis Ikler
Parkman Township Trustees and zoning officials will begin a three-year program to rid the township’s downtown area of abandoned and blighted properties, they decided at a special May 26 combined zoning meeting.
Trustees, Zoning Inspector John Spelich, members of the township’s zoning commission and board of zoning appeals, and other officials meet annually to discuss problems facing the township.
Trustee Jon Ferguson said last Tuesday it is time for the township to clean up its downtown area, beginning with the township-owned Community House.
“We need to start with our own property right out here,” Trustee Dennis Ikeler said. “We’re taking steps to clean this up. It’s an eyesore.”
Ikeler said trustees have authorized organizing the road materials currently stored in the parking area at the Community House, and have ordered block and other materials to create separate storage areas.
Trash, debris and a donated wrecked car used for Jaws of Life training will be removed, he added.
Recycling bins may also be moved to a better location that is still visible from the road, Ikeler said.
“It will make it more presentable,” he said. “We’ve got to get our own stuff cleaned up before we go after anybody else.”
Ferguson said he believed it is time for the township to take legal steps to force the owners of several blighted properties near the corner of Main Market Road (state Route 422) and Madison Road (state Route 528) to either renovate or demolish the structures.
Ferguson said he had recently asked Geauga County Common Pleas Judge David Fuhry, a former Parkman trustee, for advice on how to deal with the properties, most of which have been vacant for years.
“He told me to follow what the prosecutor says. If you do it wrong, you do it over or you don’t do it at all,” Ferguson said, adding Fuhry told him to keep talking to the property owners, some of whom do not live in the community, and try to work with them before taking legal action.
Ferguson said he had a commitment from Assistant County Prosecutor Sheila Salem to help in any way she can, and said the township should follow her lead in taking any action.
Most of the property owners have already received several letters requesting action, he said.
“Legally, with the help of the prosecutor, we can take them down and put the (demolition) cost on their taxes,” Ferguson said.
He told the officials he believes the worst properties include four houses, each on half-acre lots, on the east side of Route 528, behind the BP gas station, and two brick commercial buildings on the west side of the street.
Three of the houses on the east side were condemned several years ago. Ferguson said the property owner is trying to sell the four properties for $499,000, which he said was unrealistic because the individual lots are not buildable.
Ferguson said three of the houses could be demolished at a cost of up to $50,000, and the cost placed as liens on the properties’ taxes.
“But that would take a whole lot of money that we really don’t have,” Ferguson said.
Board of Zoning Appeals Chair-woman Cindy Gazely added: “You start losing property value in a community when blight moves in. We’re losing potential residents by allowing blight. Once it begins, it spreads because people will not want to invest in the community.”
BZA alternate and former Trustee Nancy Ferguson said the downtown blight has been going on for years. She said many of the blighted properties are rentals owned by out-of-town “slum landlords” who have no vested interest in keeping their properties in good condition.
“You can’t go through Parkman without seeing them,” Ferguson said. “If we tear them down and they are empty lots, and someone buys them and wants to build something that conforms to our zoning, I’m okay with that.”
The zoning officials agreed unanimously that the township should set a three year goal to rid the township of blighted properties, beginning with the six that Ferguson deemed the worst offenders.
“We will get letters out to the county and the health department, asking them to ask the property owners to rehab, fix them up or tear them down,” Spelich said.
Ferguson said the township should also crack down on junk vehicles and abandoned heavy equipment. He recommended asking for Salem’s help with that as well.
“Just like with the buildings, we want to address the worst ones and work our way down,” Ikeler said.
“We need to be consistent, slow, and fair,” Ferguson said. “We’ve got to do something. We live here. I like the idea of a three-year plan.”
He said trustees will follow up by going to the county to get the process started.
“It’s going to take a while, but it’s a start,” Ferguson said.
