North Adams Orders Property Cleaned Up

By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
10:19PM / Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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The city is ordering the owner of 129 North St. to clean up and button up the property.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A North Street homeowner is being given 30 days to clean up his property or risk having it declared a public nuisance.

Several neighbors of Edward Burdick's 129 North St. property met with the Public Safety Committee on Tuesday afternoon to express their concerns over the trash and garbage in the yard and the condition of the vacant house.

"You have no idea what it's like," said one neighbor. She added that a new resident to the street had paid good money for his home only to get a view of Burdick's back yard. "It just fries him something wicked in the fall to look down there at the city dump. That's what we call it, the city dump."

Burdick had been notified of the meeting, set at last week's City Council meeting, but did not appear. Committee Chairman Ronald Boucher said Burdick did not call or try to contact him.

"We've spent countless hours going back and forth with Mr. Burdick," said Building Inspector William Meranti. He said violations date back years and a fire in the basement in February has only made conditions there worse. "We push and push and once we back off, all work stops."

According to those at the meeting, the house and barn behind it are open to the weather, building materials and trash are scattered about the yard, the eroding driveway is undermining the porch, and cats have been seen going in and out of the basement. The neighbors and Health Inspector Manuel Serrano also reported an increase in rodent complaints in the neighborhood.

Meranti said the February fire caused little structural damage but that the electrical and plumbing "took a hit." Most of the other damage was confined to smoke. The house has been uninhabitable since then although the electricity was recently turned back on. 

Appearing before the City Council in August, Burdick said the fire had set him back on repairs he'd been doing to the house. However, he maintained that he had been making progress despite his neighbors' constant complaining.

Both Meranti and Serrano asked the Public Safety Committee for help in forcing Burdick to take action. "I hate to put it this way, but the courts don't help us," said Meranti.

Both men said the city had been in and out of court with property owners before, including Burdick. The court would often give the owner an extended time line, or see some work done as an indication of progress. Then the work would stop and the process start all over again.

Councilor Marie Harpin, a member of the committee, said poorly maintained buildings lower everyone's property values. "I think everyone agrees it's time for him to clean it up."

Mayor John Barrett III pledged to crack down on blighted housing in his inaugural speech in January. Since then, a commission has been reviewing a list of properties and four have already been declared public nuisances. One of those has been demolished by the owner; the other three are still standing but are expected to be taken down.

Meranti said he and Serrano were prepared to send separate letters to Burdick ordering him to clean up but would like backing from the City Council.

"I'm looking for an option. We don't have enough teeth in our regulations to enforce this," said Meranti.

Boucher said the council could declare the property a public nuisance if no progress had been made. He planned to ask the mayor to request the City Council to set a public hearing for Nov. 12. That would coincide with the 30 days set by Meranti and Serrano.

"If the city could declare this a public nuisance it will give us leverage," said Serrano.

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