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Poland residents angry about Poland Manor property in disrepair
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12 Poland Manor, located directly behind Poland Presbyterian Church, has been under construction since 2010 with little progress made over the past four years. Residents of Poland Manor are upset about the property, saying it disturbs the tranquillity of their neighborhood and has had a negative effect on the value of their homes.
POLAND
For the past few years, there has been one topic of conversation that residents of Poland Manor keep coming back to whenever they meet — “the house on the corner,” as it has come to be called.
“It’s the talk. It’s the talk amongst more than just the people of the street. Everybody knows about it,” said Jennie Phillips, a Poland Manor resident. “I almost feel like I’m gossiping, because no matter what picnic I go to, no matter what neighbor I talk to, that’s what we talk about.”
“The house on the corner” is 12 Poland Manor, a property owned by Poland resident Bret Barnhizer that has been in a state of extreme disrepair since he began work on it in 2010. Barnhizer has been issued three zoning permits since he purchased the property in November 2009, but renovation of the property remains incomplete.
There are sections of plywood covering some of the structure and a large ditch next to the house where an addition to the structure was removed.
Phillips and other residents of the manor plan to stage a “Mess on the Manor March” today at the village council meeting, saying they are frustrated with the property and how long it has been an issue.
“I’ve paid over $25,000 the last four years in taxes to live on what is one of the nicer streets in the village. And it sure doesn’t look like one of the nicer streets in the village now,” she said. “It would be one thing if we saw work being done, but it’ll go 10 or 11 months without anyone there.
“That’s a long time to watch something so large destroying the tranquility of the Manor.”
The office of the zoning administrator issued Barnhizer permits in September 2010, September 2011 and September 2012, according to documents obtained by The Vindicator. The first permit was issued at a cost of $3,500, and the last two at a cost of $2,000 each. Village officials denied him a third permit renewal.
Barnhizer submitted plans to village officials detailing the work he planned to do on the property, including fixing storm drainage and installing basement walls, a garage floor deck, first- and second-floor walls, roof trusses, a roof deck and a synthetic slate roof. All of the construction detailed in his plan was supposed to be complete by December 2012, according to the submitted plan.
In June 2013, Poland Village Council declared the property a nuisance under the Poland Village General Offense Code 660.05, according to the documents. On Jan. 20, village officials sent Barnhizer a certified letter asking him to abate the nuisance and gave him until Feb. 28 to do so.
“Then on May 9th, I inspected the property and found the nuisance still existed. So ample time was given,” said zoning administrator David Raspanti.
The matter then was referred to Atty. Dominic Leone, prosecutor for Poland and law director of Struthers.
Barnhizer was issued a minor-misdemeanor citation last week through Struthers Municipal Court, Leone said, although he did not know if Barnhizer had been served. The citation carries a maximum fine of $150.
“We’re to the point that the village has to take legal action. I don’t know what else to do,” said Village Council President Joe Mazur. “We’re sorry that we have to take legal action against an old Poland family, but it’s to the point that we have to do something because it’s just decreasing the property values of the whole area.”
Phillips said she and her neighbors would just like him to fix up the house as he had planned.
“I just want him to do the right thing and clean it up,” she said. “I’m tired of looking at it, I’m tired of talking about it. I’m just tired. We all are.
“He should sell it, or fix it and let 95 of his neighbors get the values back in our homes.”
Barnhizer could not be reached to comment.