How long should neighbors have to look at a pile of discarded furniture before it is removed?
This pile is at 134/136 First Street. Neighbors, passersby, and the owners of the $450,000 rowhouses of Woodstock Station get a nice view of this mess.
The City Council should act now to create a very tight and immediately-enforceable ordinance, giving a property owner 24 hours to remove such a mess or the City will remove it at the landlord's expense. How'd it get there? The property owner may have had to evict his tenants, and then he cleared the rental space of the tenant's personal property and furnishings.
An eviction is an unpleasant circumstance. It's the unfortunate tenant who finds himself in such a predicament and who must abandon some or all of his furniture, for lack of money to move it or store it.
But should the property owner be permitted to toss it on the curb, where who knows how long it will remain? No way! The property owner should arrange either for storage or for same-day removal by Marengo Disposal Company. And if MDC won't come until Wednesday? Then put out Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
This isn't the only pile in town. Normally, these piles show up about the first of the month, not the 23rd.
Does the City Council have the "intestinal fortitude" to get tough with landlords? Does the developer of Woodstock Station have any remaining clout with the City Council?
© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT
No comments:
Post a Comment