Am I my brother's keeper?
Orange Street SE
Orange Street SE
Orange Street SE
Oakwood Street SERegardless of how many times I walk around my neighborhood I am constantly baffled by two things. 1) How a few homeowners can leave their properties vacant and in total disarray for years 2) how neighbors put up with it
As in anything I am sure there is a story (death, illness, financial problems, greed, etc) that may have initially led some of these properties to fall into disarray but there has to come a point (hopefully sooner than 8 years) where something has to be done either by the ANC, the DC Council or DCRA. There comes a point where you have to say "enough is enough, what can we do to fix this?".
I was talking to a member of a local community board about this and her response was "if you don't live next to the building why do you care?". In my opinion, that is the type of flawed thinking that has gotten us in this predicament in the first place. We should all be concerned.
There has to be some "middle ground" between a vacant eyesore and razing a property. There are several non profit groups who's purpose is rehabbing buildings for affordable housing, heck - DCRA has the power to make repairs and place a lien on the property. Why isn't that happening? You would think that in today's economy the city would be eager to employ contractors at the expense of a third party. There was an article in either the Washington Post or the Washington City Paper how DCRA doesn't even come close to spending the funds that have been set aside for such repairs.
In my opinion at least part of the blame can be laid at the feet of some the ANC Commissioners. As advocates for the community who have been given a certain level of power and confidence by the people they should have the pull neccesary with city agencies such as DCRA to get these property issues finally resolved - one way or the other. It's one thing for citizens to call 311 to have the grass cut and the windows boarded up but there needs to be persistance and follow up by the ANC to make sure that the city agencies are committed to fixing the problem - not putting band aids on it.
Understandably, as with working with city government things move at a slower pace. They don't call it "red tape" for nothing, but there is slow and there is an absolute full stop. A property vacant and/or a nuisance for over 5 years is a total failure any way you look at it.
The insane thing is that although the community may have made numerous complaints about these properties -there doesn't seem to be any follow up by anyone in a position of power to hold agencies (in particular DCRA) responsible.
I wonder how those extra taxes collected from vacant properties are applied? It would be great if those funds could be earmarked for community improvements for those very neighborhoods where these vacant properties are located.
Including some pictures of vacant properties in the Oakwood Street SE area. Please note these pictures were taken after residents contacted DPW several times to come out and cut the grass (at some of these vacant buildings the grass gets taller than a foot).
When are we going to hold our community leaders responsible for not advocating effectively for ALL of us?