Vacant House Concerns

Neighbors say the windows were left open, the mail has collected in a pile, and the lawn has been a nightmare at 2339 E. 40th Street in the City of Erie.

"It's just terrible," said neighbor Dean Bartos.  "It's getting worse and worse day by day.  And I don't know what to do with it any more."

Neighbors say the house is an eyesore, and they worry about more than just the length of the grass.  They say the abandoned shed in the back yard is a rodent palace.

"Now it's just completely out of hand with the woodchucks living back here," said an exasperated Bartos.  "I don't want to see kids getting bit by it or even me getting bit by it," he added.

In the back yard of the house the grass is about two or three feet high.  But out front it looks like any other house in the neighborhood, and that's only because the neighbors have been cutting the grass.

"So I got a hold of the city and they came out and put the paper in the window saying they would take care of it and maybe put a lien on the property itself," said neighbor John Joint.

City officials say the house is a typical vacated property and they will be taking care of it.

"What we'll do is we'll go ahead and tag it and send a notice to the owner," said Andy Zimmerman, who is in charge of Erie code enforcement.  "If the bank has repossessed it, send a notice to them.  If we get no response from it or we can't find the owner or locate it, then we'll send a work order into (the) Parks (Department) and have them go in and take care of the problem and mow the lawn," he said.

Zimmerman also said the Erie Parks Department works very hard to mow the lawns at places like the house on 40th Street, but their staff is not big enough to cut the lawns as frequently as they would like.