Sweep Team Tackles Beaver Hill Hazards

Two basement bedrooms of a two-story Diamond Street house had metal bars and plywood boards on their windows. Not good — that meant the people living inside had no alternative escape route should a fire break out.

A team of city inspectors came upon that hazard — and many others — during a joint walking tour Tuesday of the Beaver Hills neighborhood.

The occasion was the latest ​“Clean and Safe Sweep,” in which officials from different city government departments walk different neighborhoods a few times a year to tackle public hazards as a team. In previous sweeps, officials have inspected rodent-infested delis, smoked out slumlords, and discovered illegal apartments.

On Tuesday morning’s sweep, officials from more than a dozen city departments walked the streets of Beaver Hills to inspect potential health, safety and housing violations and ensure a comprehensive city response to address those issues.

The team included Mayor Justin Elicker, Fire Chief John Alston Jr., economic development chief Michael Piscitelli, Livable Cities Initiative (LCI) neighborhood specialist Maggie Fernandez, and several Health Department inspectors.

Beaver Hills Alder Richard Furlow had first noticed the Diamond Street fire safety code violation last week when he talked to staff at Continuum of Care, the nonprofit mental health organization that rents the building. He brought it to the attention of the other city departments, and it made the list for Tuesday’s inspection sweep.

After seeing the problem on the tour, fire inspector Meghan Maidelis called up the landlord on the spot to inform him that the bars had to be removed within six hours or the Fire Marshals Office will relocate the occupants.

The city’s deputy director of housing code enforcement, Rafael Ramos, stepped in to instruct the landlord to take immediate action when he proved to be stubborn.

“It’s a matter of the occupants’ safety,” said Maidelis when the landlord tried to ask if he could remove the bars within 24 hours instead of six.

“They have to have a way out of the bedroom as a second means of emergency egress should there be a fire in front of the door,” said Ramos. 

After a five minute verbal stand-off, the landlord agreed. The inspectors planned to revisit the site later in the day to affirm that he had followed through.

The Diamond Street home was one of about half a dozen stops that the residential inspection team made in Beaver Hills. Another team investigated potential violations at commercial properties along Fitch Street.

The mayor and city officials spoke to residents about their concerns along the way and explained what they are doing to address them.

One Beaver Hills resident, Maria Lamberto, complained that an auto detail business would potentially be opening in the residential-zoned neighborhood. The lot at the corner of Blake and Osborne has been abandoned, but was previously the site of a convenience store controversy when a business owner bought the building before gaining permission to open a retail store there.

“This is just so frustrating,” Lamberto told Alder Furlow and LCI’s Fernandez as they passed by her neighbor’s house on Ruby Street.

Margaret Batts expressed concerns to Mayor Elicker that squatters had taken over a handsome three-story home across the street from her house.

According to Batts and Ramos, the owners were an elderly couple who died several months ago from Covid-19. Unauthorized occupants had gained access to the home and have been staying there for more than 30 days.

Standing on the steps to her lawn, Elicker listened as she said she disagrees with the law giving rights to squatters. Sheexpressed fear for the safety of children living in the neighborhood.

Ramos later told the Independent that because the occupants had been staying there for more than 30 days, they have gained ​“possession” of it. The burden is now on whoever owns or acquires the home to evict them, he said.

“As long as they have utilities, water, and electricity, they can stay,” Ramos said, who explained that those are required for the safety of the occupants and the surrounding residents. ​“We’ll monitor it.”

Along Fitch Street, a landscaping company had stored house-sized piles of mulch beside a piece of machinery that was leaking oil. A puddle of black fuel had pooled by the base of the mulch pile, causing a potential fire hazard.

The same business had been investigated and warned by the city five years ago for violating numerous city ordinances. Residents who lived in the nearby Blake Street apartments had complained about sawdust and the smell of chemically-treated mulch. Fire Chief Alston said during the Tuesday visit that they have taken more precautions to reduce fire safety hazards now, such as drafting water from a nearby river in case of the mulch caught fire.

{media 6}Mulch can spontaneously catch fire if it is near an ignition source, which can range from a shard of glass reflecting a sun ray to a pool of flammable liquid, explained fire chief Alston.

Alston was joined by building inspector Jose Romero, who examined the mulch for contamination by the leaking oil.

Alston took photographs documenting the violation and also pointed out how the oil could be leaking into the nearby river, contaminating it.

The team planned return to the business later Tuesday for a formal inspection.

“We want to educate and inform. We want to see businesses stay open,” said Alston.