Dilapidated properties continue to be a major point of discussion for the Warren City Council, who met for their regular monthly business meeting Monday evening, June 13, 2022 at the Warren Municipal Building in downtown Warren.
Although a relatively short meeting compared to most months, the bulk of June’s Council session was centered around the issue of unsightly and unsafe properties which don’t meet City codes, and exactly how to handle the issue moving forward. Warren City Building Official Rob Johnson informed the Council that he is in the process of seeking clarity of ordinances currently on the books, as well as getting advice from the Arkansas Municipal League.
A property at 505 Myrtle was recently cleaned up through a controlled burn by the Warren Fire Department, but that style of cleanup is not an option for a number of other properties around the community, some of which have people occupying them as homes.
Council member Zack Burks, of Ward 3, brought up the issue of a property on Howard Street, which has been cleaned up by the City once. Soon after however, the property again degraded to beyond City codes, with junk occupying quite a bit of the lot. An entire boat is on stilts at the property, with hundreds of items of junk surrounding the boat. No residential structure is located on the site.
When attempts to contact the individual who stays on the lot about the property were made by Building Official Johnson, a number of neighbors reportedly stated to Johnson that the City should leave the property owner alone, and that people should have the right to live how they want to. Johnson indicated he is still working on the issue in regards to that property. “There’s some problems we have. We’re just going to have to figure out how to handle them,” said Johnson.
Burks agreed that Johnson should continue to work to ensure the Howard Street property is cleaned up. He went on to address his frustration with the fact that the City has codes in place to keep properties from being allowed to remain in such a run-down state, and that the City can either enforce the codes that are meant to keep Warren clean, or ignore them altogether. “It’s still and eye sore for the area, and if we are going to just go ahead and let folks deal with it the way it is, then we should just close everything else down,” he said.
Council member Memory Burks-Frazer stated that the issue was not only an eye sore problem, but a mental health issue. “I know we have to clean it up,” she stated, “but just like last time, it’s just going to happen again.”
Mayor Denisa Pennington said the City has spent roughly $10,000 already on cleanup of the property. “I’m not a proponent at all of doing nothing,” she continued.
Johnson informed the Council that the Howard Street property is making it more difficult to enforce City codes elsewhere, because owners of other properties bring up that the City is doing nothing to the Howard Street property.
Johnson went on to tell the Council that he has spoken with the City Attorney, as well as a Municipal League attorney, about the possibility of updating City ordinances to better fight the issues at hand on property dilapidation. Specific wording changes may be needed moving forward in City codes.
Mayor Pennington, Building Official Johnson, as well as multiple City Council members spoke up in agreement that something must be done community wide. “It’s very difficult,” said Johnson about the enforcement of the codes. “Any help would be appreciated,” he said. Johnson also state how important it is for anyone with complaints about property to please come forward to file formal complaints on paper with his office, or even show up to bring it to the City Council directly during monthly meetings.
Multiple other properties were discussed throughout the meeting, not only the Howard Street issue.
In other business, City Department heads addressed the Council to give their regular monthly reports. Police Chief Shaun Hildreth stated that new vehicles that have been ordered are still not in production, although the Department has a new truck now in service.
The was also some discussion about upgrading from older equipment that continues to break down for the sanitation department. The issue was referred to Sanitation Manager Johnson to get prices.
The next City Council meeting was set for July 11 at 5:30 p.m.
