A Friendly Suggestion to City Hall: Don't Buy Properties You Can't Maintain!

[Lori Allen _]

A friendly suggestion to City Hall: evaluate potential expenses before you dive in and buy properties.

This is a vacant, city-owned lot on the corner of Madison and Newman. The address is actually 11900 Madison. There used to be a quaint, hometown-like storefront with upstairs apartments here until a few years ago when City Hall bought it for $0 and bulldozed the building, meaning that the previous owner took a $185,000 loss. Hmmmm...

Now, it appears that City Hall lacks the manpower, money, or resources to maintain this property. As of today, well, see below:

11900 Madison city trip hazard.jpg (195.75 KiB) Viewed 1058 times

11900 Madison city weeds.jpg (177.59 KiB) Viewed 1058 times

11900 Madison city exposed valve.jpg (138.49 KiB) Viewed 1058 times

1. Weeds growing too long and over the sidewalk.
2. A sidewalk slab raised roughly one inch, a definite tripping hazard and liability.
3. Several sidewalk slabs that have sunken into the ground.
4. Exposed water and/or natural gas casting covers.

Just a friendly suggestion: don't buy properties you can't maintain.

Just an observation: looks like just enough room to put in a few townhouses. Will a friend of Summers & Company be hired for a project here or will City Hall give it to a contractor?

Just an observation: Stuff like this appears to be becoming a habit.

[Lori Allen _]

What a beautiful building this was, and City Hall had to knock it down.

Newman Madison torn down.jpg (163.62 KiB) Viewed 973 times

In my opinion, something smells quite foul when combined with much of the other stuff.

[Lori Allen _]

http://patch.com/ohio/lakewood-oh/watch ... son-avenue

Not that we can believe anything from Patch, but....

Might be worth everyone being on their guard. Apparently, if Summers wants your property, he and his company will fabricate violations about your property and come in with the bulldozer.

I would like someone from City Hall to please post the documentation, including photographic evidence of the inside and outside, that shows that this property was indeed a nuisance beyond repair. Otherwise, it looks like another alleged cover-up.

Is this the new city hall policy?:

If we want your land, we will fabricate false or exaggerated violations about your property so we can condemn it, make it a nuisance, and come in with bulldozers. Bonus points for taking the homes of old people!