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To the editor:
There were two days of discussions regarding Neighborhood Conservation Districts, one with the Planning and Zoning Commission and one with City Council, and the real problem in this city was never mentioned. The real problem, at least in my neighborhood, is lack of code enforcement. If codes were actually enforced throughout the city, there would be no distinction between a home-owned property and a rental property. Everyone would have to abide by the same rules, and that is the solution that rids accusations of minority racism.
My neighborhood is not one of the 25 conservation districts in the city and the worst houses on my street are not rentals. They are properties in which homeowners just don't care what their properties look like, so the rest of the neighbors have to look at their mess every day. I, personally have turned in a homeowner with many code violations several times before anything was done. It took months before they actually cleaned up part of their mess, never addressing an even larger part of it.
And another aspect of this problem is not out-of-town landlords, but the many prominent families that own so many rentals that they apparently can't maintain and have become slumlords. This is a fact, but when you mention it, everyone says … not them, they're a very prominent family in this city and they do so much good. Well, one of the good things they do not do is maintain their many properties. I call them the untouchables, solely because of their name.
Open your eyes and see the real problem for what it is … property maintenance code enforcement. By following them, there would be no need for conservation districts in our city.
Toni Dear
Steubenville