Florence neighborhood meeting addresses problem properties

FLORENCE — Residents of one of Florence’s oldest neighborhoods met Tuesday evening to air their concerns to city officials about preserving the beauty of the area and punishing those who threaten it and their safety.

Members of the Timrod Park Neighborhood Association told Mayor Stephen J. Wukela and others they are worried about people who lived around the park and are a public nuisance.

While abandoned homes are a city-wide concern, neglected homes are more of an issue in the Timrod Park neighborhood, said Betty Shelley, Timrod Park Neighborhood Association president.

Shelley said she has been complaining about a resident at 459 Pine St. who keeps abandoned cars around his home and refuses to clean up his yard. A property at 500 McQueen St. is also a concern to the neighborhood association, as well as a home on Covington Street that has burned down.

Timrod Park Neighborhood Association member Jennifer Lee said she wants officials to enforce current city ordinances that would require residents to clean up their property.

Wukela said a city ordinance on the books that addresses such issues hasn’t been enforced since the 1970s. That habitability policy requires everyone to have electricity, water and sewer service to their residences, he said.

The policy also calls for a board of appeals, but it hasn’t been staffed since the 1970s because because of an resistance to enforcement, Wukela said.

If a property owner fails to comply, the city could remedy the problem by taking a number of different actions.

Wukela told meeting attendees that issues with housing should be broken into three categories: one that deals with abandoned houses, one that deals with troublesome property that’s occupied by a renter and one dealing with owner-occupied houses.

Issues with renters who create a nuisance for their neighborhoods would be handled by an ombudsman or a mediator, Wukela said.

But residents at Tuesday night’s meeting said they opposed having an ombudsman because it wouldn’t resolve anything, only delay the process.

Scotty Davis, director of community services for the city, suggested a livability ordinance which, if passed, would be comprised of a court that deals exclusively with housing issues.

Under such an ordinance, city judges would hear cases involving housing one day each month, Davis said.

Timrod Park residents also pushed for a process that would require owners who rent their properties to obtain rental licenses. The licenses would have to be renewed annually and would contain information about owners so the public can contact them if there’s a problem with their properties, Lee said.

The owners would be required to acknowledge they are aware of neighborhood ordinances and agree to comply with neighborhood regulations, Lee said.

Florence City Councilman Steve Powers said people who are renting property on behalf of their parents, living or dead, shouldn’t be required to fill out a thick stack of paperwork.

Many feel they have a right to do what they want on their property, he said, and the government’s power should be kept in check.

“Otherwise we’re going to have food police and cable police, saying you can only watch that from 8 to 4 and then you have to take your nap,” he said.

Lee said she simply wants people to follow ordinances that already exist and for there to be an easily accessible public record of property owners.

The Timrod Park Neighborhood Association meets the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, visit www.timrodpark.com.