A recent report discusses efforts by the Pittston PA (18640-44) Code Enforement Department to address dilapidated and otherwise neglected properties in Pittston.

To run a property report for Pittston PA properties housed in the Safeguard database please click on the following link.

Pittston PA
***please note you will need to be logged in to access

Pittston to crack down on problem properties

A new zoning and code enforcement officer is tracking down and cracking down on the owners of dilapidated and otherwise neglected properties in Pittston.

In a little over a week on the job, Greg Gulick already has nudged several of 23 violating landlords to clean up their properties. So far, he’s been issuing warnings, but beginning Monday, he starts writing citations. That will include citations for property owners failing to obtain permits for renovations.

Fines for all citations can run up to $300, plus court costs and double the cost of the permits, which varies by the type of renovation. Violators have 10 days to correct problems before facing a citation.

“We will not tolerate overgrown weeds and grass on properties,” Gulick said.

The majority of the properties are where parts of houses are falling or where grass and weeds are high, and many of the owners live out of town, according to Gulick.

Among his successes are a house on High Street and another property on Stark Street, where the owners are cutting weeds, removing trash and doing repairs.

The out-of-town owners of a dilapidated house at 5 Sand St., an alley off Church Street, plan to tear down the structure where a family member once lived. Part of the roof is caved in and weeds, brush and trees are so overgrown the house is barely visible from the front. The house, vacant for several years, had neighbors concerned.

“It’s completely caving in in the back,” said Lindsey Krynak, 22, who lives next door with her mother and stepfather. “There’s all kinds of paper and litter.”

Krynak said kids go inside or on the porch at night and smoke marijuana.

“God forbid it catches fire,” she said.

Her stepfather, Francis “Butch” Ostrowski, 58, said he was friends with the woman who had lived there. But after the property was abandoned, he became concerned about a fire hazard.

Neighbors had called police when they saw “vagrants” going in and out of the house, Gulick said.

Gulick reached the family, who told him they planned to have the house torn down.

“So far, I’m getting good cooperation because of the phone calls to owners or letters I’ve written,” Gulick said.

“Several have been fixed up. People have cut grass or cleaned up. Or, they’re going to hire a contractor or are in the process of hiring a contractor to clean up the property.”

About 85 percent of the properties that are in violation are vacant and about the same number are owned by out-of-town landlords, including banks or real estate agencies, Gulick said.

“I’ve been tracking the owners through tax records,” he added. “Some properties have been neglected for years.”

Gulick’s predecessor, Savino Bonita, had gotten some properties cleaned up, and had issued warnings and citations to others. Bonita’s records of violators go back years, Gulick said.

But sometimes getting unsightly properties cleaned up or torn down turns into a long legal standoff because it could cost more than $10,000 to tear down a house.

To view the online article, please click on the following link.

Pittston PA Code Enforcement