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Residents and property owner argue over tenants
By Bruce Walton
POLAND
Multiple renters in a newly renovated house in the village are sparking heated debate between neighbors and the property owner.
The home at 234 Evergreen Drive has three new renters, all developmentally disabled women taken care of round the clock by guardians and caretakers. The house is in an R-1 district, which allows only single-family homeowners.
The problem, many residents said, is that the property owner gave no warning or application to the village that multiple renters would be living in the home.
The women were able to overstep the R-1 designation under the Fair Housing Act, which protects minorities, including disabled individuals, from housing prohibitions and trumps local zoning laws, according to village solicitor Anthony D’Apolito.
The house was purchased by Frank Divito, a private investor who buys vacant properties, renovates and rents them. Divito, 56, maintains that at least six renters would be required to be considered a multiple-family dwelling.
But D’Apolito said under the ordinance: “If there’s more than one family living in a home of an R-1 neighborhood, then that violates the R-1 ordinance as written.”
Neighbors grew concerned a month ago after learning about the residents and the construction of the new ramp making the home wheelchair-accessible.
“Our issue is not with the developmentally or physically handicapped,” said Evergreen Drive resident Dave Gabriel. “Our issue is with group homes and the fact that they came in [with] no notice and that there’s no regulation, no ordinances that can regulate how many group homes can go into an area.”
Their main concern is about possibly lowering home resale values and the fact that they weren’t notified about the arrangement. They recently voiced concerns to Poland Village Council.
“I have a feeling that [council members] are not really willing to step up and fight for the residents, and I may be wrong on that, but that’s just the feeling that I get,” Gabriel said.
Lowering home prices could be a possibility, D’Apolito said, but he can’t be certain. D’Apolito said he understands the residents’ need for such a zoning law to be well-enforced.
“The purpose of any housing law is to have a certain conformity in an area so you know when you go to buy a home that there won’t be a convenience store put up next to you or there won’t be a fourplex or a sixplex ...,” D’Apolito said. “That’s the whole purpose of the R-1 zoning ordinance – which is single-family homes.”
He said, however, there’s not much that can be done with a federal law on the renter’s side.
Divito rented the property to the multiple renters with Abbey Summers, administrator of New Leaf Residential Services Inc. New Leaf staffs and manages group homes for developmentally disabled people. The service is provided by the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Divito said he bought the home in December 2015, after it was vacant for three years, and spent more than $20,000 to make it both livable and attractive. Divito also customized the home for the use of wheelchairs, widening the doorways and making the bathrooms wheelchair-accessible.
Some residents said they still have other concerns. Mario Bosnjak, 42, lives two doors from the home and said he didn’t have as much of a problem as other neighbors about the fact the renters aren’t a single family. But he is concerned for his 2-year-old child because of the little knowledge he has about who New Leaf Inc. employs for caretakers.
“You never know who’s coming or who’s going and having a little baby around here – it concerns me,” he said. “The company who put those people in there – do they drug test their employees? Do they have background checks?”
Summers said every caretaker provided must pass multiple background checks, screening processes and go through weeks of training before working. The standards of workers hired and trained must meet the standards of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.
Divito, Gabriel and other residents plan to visit the next board meeting June 20 at the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, located on Woodridge Drive.
As someone who owns about 25 properties with a majority located in Poland, Divito said it wouldn’t make sense if he allowed the property values to decrease on his investments. He has said he grew up in Poland and served on the school board.
Divito has spoken to his attorney and plans to proceed to investigate a number of issues – and warns residents to be cautious about their intentions.
“I substantially raised [the property value] by going in and fixing it up and cleaning it up,” he said. “And if they can’t see that – well, shame on them.”