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We're all concerned about keeping the empty houses in our neighborhood safe and preserving our property values. Twelve streets in our city are now better off because residents volunteered to “Adopt-A-House” near them. Volunteering to “Adopt-A-House" simply means that you make the commitment to walk around the outside of an empty house in your neighborhood once a day, just to do a brief visual inspection. That way, if anything is broken or vandalized it can be reported to the police quickly, while there is a chance to get fingerprints, minimize damage, etc.
Also, empty houses can be used for criminal activity. Recently a house in our area was used as a "keep house" for breeding and keeping pit bulls. Someone rented the house, but did not live in it. The animals were neglected and the neighbors were alerted to what was going on by barking and the smell of feces. Someone else reported an incident that occurred some time ago, where two dogs were locked inside an empty house for weeks; by the time officials intervened one of the dogs was in such poor condition that it had to be put to sleep.
If you see that something has happened, call the police. If you feel that the situation is an emergency, call 911. Otherwise, the number for non-emergency police calls in Cleveland Heights is 321-1234; the number for non-emergency police calls in University Heights is 932-1800. Then be sure to make a second contact by calling or emailing (preferably) the city’s housing department In Cleveland Heights, contact Rick Wagner, Manager of Housing Programs, at 291-4962; his email is rwagner@clvhts.com . In University Heights, contact David Menn, Building Commissioner at 932-7800 ext. 226 d.menn@universityheights.com The cities’ housing departments are also who you contact if the lawns of empty houses are not being mowed. Severance Neighborhood Organization is sponsoring this program and plans to compile a list of “lessons learned” from the participants and to host a thank-you party for the volunteers. If you are interested in “adopting” a house in your neighborhood, please contact Fran Mentch at 381-5356 or fran@heightssno.org with your name and the name of the street where the empty house is located. Additionally, please contact Fran if you have a child’s drawing of a house that you are willing to let the “Adopt-a-House” project use as a logo.
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Adopt-a-House Projectposted May 20, 2010 1:33 PM by Fran Mentch [ updated Jul 1, 2010 6:59 PM ] |