http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2002/05/03/living/community/states/pennsylvania/cities_neighborhoods/philadelphia/3188624.htm
How a landlord keeps blight ripe By Monica Yant Kinney Inquirer Columnist With all due respect to Mayor Street's much-anticipated $295 million Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, it may be impossible to win the war on blight. For proof, drop by the 4800 block of Chester Avenue in Squirrel Hill, an otherwise charming, architecturally significant slice of University City. There, fed-up residents, the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and the city Law Department have been exchanging not-so-friendly fire with a multi-eyesore owner for years. The pattern goes something like this: L&I issues violations. Owner says he'll fix buildings, then doesn't. Battle goes to court. Owner pleads for time. Ever-changing lineup of judges grants extension, postponing the one decision - demolition - that can spur redevelopment and rebirth. Such is life on Chester Avenue. Thomas McPherson is what you might call a difficult neighbor. His three blighted buildings and one vacant lot stand out amid the grand Victorians and tidy apartment buildings. In 1982, L&I declared two of McPherson's buildings public nuisances. By the 1990s, the violations grew more serious, with inspectors using such terms as unsafe, health hazard and imminently dangerous. Jerome Hunter is a jazz bassist by profession, and a mellow sort. Don Stafford is a contractor. They've lived in the community for years and were sick to see it sliding. In time, frustration turned to fury. Bad to worse Last fall, the neighbors joined the city in court, testifying for Deputy City Solicitor Lesia Kuzma. She'd been up against McPherson since 1999, when he foiled the city's attempt to demolish an abandoned building so neglected that a tree grew from it. It would take three years, a court order, and a falling brick nearly hitting a child to get the building demolished. The bill came to $28,000. McPherson has yet to pay. That's just one chapter in McPherson's quest to save his properties. There's a 1999 court order to demolish 4810 Chester Ave., but last month, McPherson got a temporary restraining order. He has until June to bring the house up to code or lose it - barring another extension. 4814 Chester Ave. was deemed imminently dangerous in 1999. The condition worsened in April after a rear wall fell down (as the neighbors say) or was torn down (as McPherson says). Either way, it left a big hole. McPherson has a month to fix it, and all other violations, or face demolition - barring more extensions. Yesterday, McPherson was in court again over the home he lives in on the block. It's imminently dangerous, too, due to loose and missing bricks in the chimney and a cornice. Amid confusion over recent repairs, the judge granted a 45-day extension. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell represents the area and hopes the end is near. "He's got to get it together," she said, "or else." The blame game McPherson is not an absentee landlord. He lives in one of his troubled twins, keeping the others vacant by choice. He teaches English at nearby West Catholic High School. We talked on his front porch the other night, surrounded by sacks of cement, gasoline cans, open paint canisters, and other construction debris. "What happened, happened. I'm not going to make excuses for it," he said. Then he made excuses. He's had family deaths that postponed home repairs. (For 20 years?) He's short on money, and doing-it-yourself takes time. (But 20 years?) He even blamed the rain for delays. And Mother Nature has coconspirators. McPherson alleged his neighbors are "trying to smear me." "You're not talking about a criminal. You're talking about a decent person who doesn't bother anybody." These are rationalizations Street's blight-fighting team should get used to hearing. If it has a plan to keep owners and the courts from blocking the bulldozers, please unveil it. Because if one block's trials are any indication, a citywide transformation may be decades away - if real change happens at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Monica Yant Kinney at 215-854-4670 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
