WARREN Official: demolish run-down houses

The owner thinks that if the city wants the houses to be demolished, it should pay.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city's building official has ordered three houses owned by an East Market Street woman to be demolished.
Christopher Taneyhill ordered the houses at 576 Buckeye St., 2453 Brier St. S.E. and 554 Parkman Road to be demolished because of their condition. The houses are three of more than 40 rental properties in the city owned by Suk Hu Hays.
Taneyhill took photographs of the inside of the Buckeye Street house showing debris and food piled in the house. The other two houses are in disrepair.
Many of Hays' other properties are set for inspection and repairs, the building official said.
Taneyhill said a woman rented the house from Hays but was using it to house cats while she lived elsewhere. He ordered the Buckeye and Parkman Road structures to be demolished by June 20 while the Brier Street house is to be demolished by Aug. 1.
In agreement
Hays agrees that the Buckeye and Parkman houses should come down but contends that the Brier house is in decent shape.
"It had siding put on it and a new roof about three years ago," she said.
Hays said she boarded the house up at the city's order because children in the neighborhood were throwing stones and breaking the windows. A lot of houses in the city are boarded up, she contends.
"I'm going to talk to them about Brier Street," Hays said.
Although she agrees the other two houses should be demolished, she thinks the city should pay for it.
"I'm not only losing a house, but they want me to pay for the demolition," Hays said.
Mayor Hank Angelo said the city will go after the property owners to pay for the demolitions.
"The city taxpayers are not responsible," he said.
Pursuing charges
Taneyhill also is pursuing charges against a homeowner who transferred property to a nearby church after he ordered the house to be demolished; and charges against the owners of a former Park Avenue restaurant for not complying with an order to demolish it. The restaurant burned in a fire a few years ago.
The Imperial Motel on East Market Street was demolished earlier last month after the Ohio Board of Building Appeals upheld Taneyhill's order that it be demolished.
Taneyhill had ordered the demolition, declaring the long-vacant motel, owned by Atty. Donald L. Guarnieri, his brother, Albert Guarnieri, and his sister, Lucille McGuire, a public hazard. The city also is seeking demolition of the Parkman Road Shopping Center also owned by Donald Guarnieri.
Angelo said the latest demolitions are part of an ongoing effort to demolish properties in poor condition. Efforts were slowed earlier because of legal questions with the demolition contract, he said.
"It's a credit to the building department and to Bob Pinti, deputy health commissioner," Angelo said. "They're doing a fantastic job."