The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 23, 2012

Code enforcement team taking care of business

By Courtney L. Saylor Herald Staff Writer

SHARON — Sharon’s code enforcement team since June 2011 has started 2,000 reports for violations of building and health codes in the city.

“I think it’s going well,” City Manager Scott Andrejchak said of the efforts led by code director Bob Fiscus Jr. “I think Bob has made a lot of progress. I think we have a ways to go … it continues to be a priority.”

City council Vice President Ed Palanski said code issues are a precursor to fires, crime, health problems and property devaluation. City officials have been focused on changing Sharon’s image and sprucing up the city of 14,000 people.

“I think it’s having an impact and people I talk to agree,” Andrejchak said.

Rentals and owner-occupied units are held up to the same standards, Fiscus said.

“The fire department is the code department,” said Fiscus, who has been a city firefighter for 11 years and was tapped as acting city manager for eight months last year before Andrejchak was hired.

Fiscus last week laid out the program for members of the Sharon Area Landlord Association.

Officials send a letter to the owner notifying them of the violation, reinspect the property after giving them time to remedy the problem and, if it’s not fixed, file a citation with the district judge.

Once a letter goes out, Fiscus said about 30 percent of the owners comply and after a citation is issued about 30 percent of those owners repair the issues.    

Fiscus said garbage accumulation and broken windows are probably the biggest priority for the city.

“Broken windows seem to be contagious,” he said. “You see one broken window, then another broken window, then (houses) are vacant ... and it continues down the whole block.”

Andrejchak said the city can use some Community Development Block Grant money for the firefighters salaries while they’re doing code work, which benefits the city’s bottom line.

Fiscus said firefighters go out daily to survey properties and do rental inspections, which landlord association President Stan Lefes said consists of “common sense stuff.”

One of the biggest problems is identifying the rental properties in the city that aren’t licensed but should be. Fiscus figures they have about a 60-percent compliance rate among landlords for registering homes and tenants, who are then added to the tax rolls.

The code office looks at census figures but most often finds out about an off-book rental when a code violation is reported.

Another issue is finding the owner of record, as the law requires; for many houses in the city, foreclosures have led to out-of-town companies and banks owning property.

About 10 to 15 percent of the city’s 200 vacant properties are owned by such entities, Fiscus said.

It’s hard to hold someone responsible for violations, particularly when some companies don’t even exist anymore, he said.

The city’s torn down 15 houses this year and hopes to raze another 15 but Andrejchak said demolition isn’t always the answer.

It’s one tool to combat blight, but there are others, like the new partnership between the city and Mercer County Housing Authority to acquire and rehabilitate abandoned houses.

A state law enacted in April 2011 gives municipalities more power to go after scofflaw owners and the city’s taken advantage of it.

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