Adams Board Of Health Looking For Unkempt Property Solution
ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Health wants to find a way to clean up disheveled properties.
Board member Allen Mendel said last Wednesday that many nice neighborhoods are being brought down by unsightly or abandoned properties and asked if the board had any authority to clean them up.
Chairman Bruce Shepley said the board, unfortunately, is not the "neat police" and does not really have "teeth" when it comes to many common eyesores like unkempt lawns.
He said the best members can do is talk to the property owners because it would be a waste of time to go to housing court.
"Does the housing court want to hear about high grass when they are dealing with structures falling down or landlords not keeping up?" Shepley asked. "If you got to court they don't have the time."
Shepley said many incidents of unkempt properties are really not a problem and often come down to neighbor disputes.
"I investigated one a while back and there was a pile of brush there but the rest of the yard was certainly maintained," he said. "It's a compost and ... when you looked around it was really was no different than any other yard."
Code Enforcement Officer Thomas Romaniak said the only time the board can enforce a cleanup is if they personally see rodents on the property.
As for abandoned homes, Shepley said it is often hard to track down who is responsible for keeping up the property.
He added that properties the town is taking for taxes sometimes go to the wayside with all of the other responsibilities the Department of Public Works has.
"The town does not have the resources with the nine employees they have to deal with the cemeteries and the parks," he said.
Mendel suggested looking at more creative options such as organizing a volunteer team to clean up abandoned properties.
"It's hard to tell the people they just have to live with it and if there is some solution I think we should figure it out," he said.
He said there may be liability issues they have to look into with town counsel.
Shepley added that it may be beneficial to create a master list of all abandoned properties in town.
Tags: blight, board of health,
