Jeannette eyes blighted property demolitions

A home in danger of collapse at the corner of Division and Lavelle streets in Jeannette could be slated for demolition through the county’s American Rescue Plan funding.

Its removal couldn’t come soon enough for fire Chief Bill Frye. A bus stop is in the area of 420 Division St., he said.

It was the site of an arson during a spate of them citywide in 2012 and has no electricity, heat or plumbing, Frye said this week during a public hearing. The water damage is significant.

“That money’s finally there for where the city can abate this nuisance,” he said.

City officials have been working through a list of blighted properties and sending them along to Westmoreland County for demolition through $10.4 million in American Rescue Plan funding set aside for such work in Jeannette and six other communities. Ten structures in Jeannette and one in Penn Borough were deemed public nuisances Tuesday. All except three in the city are eligible for demolition under the funding. The others could be demolished through Community Development Block Grant money.

A duplex at 313 and 315 S. Fifth St. was among the 10. Frye said the 315 side of the building is collapsing, and the other half, which has been undergoing renovations, could be pulled down if that happens. Each half has a different owner.

“We can’t tear down one without tearing down the other,” Frye told property owner Charles Schade, who said he has been working on his side.

Schade planned to appeal the declaration of public nuisance and submit a report from a structural engineer. He owns numerous rental units in the city and is serving two years in a probationary program on reckless endangerment charges in his 2020 arrest for accusations of relighting a faulty furnace in another duplex he owns on South Fifth Street.

He said during Tuesday’s hearing that he is having a hard time getting tenants, laying the blame on the city.

Councilman Chad Krawtz criticized Schade’s properties, pointing the blame back at him.

“You tell me what property you have that is in good and decent” condition, Krawtz said. “You’re wasting our time. Stop it.”

Other properties deemed public nuisances were:

• 612 Wylie Ave. and 507 Clark Ave., which have been the sites of numerous break-ins despite efforts to secure the properties.

“Places like this attract more garbage and more trash as time goes on,” Frye said about the Clark Avenue home.

• 12 S. 12th St., where the last occupancy permit was granted in 2005.

“I have personally found squatters in this property on two different occasions,” he said.

• 119 S. 11th St., which has sustained water damage.

• 524 Patton Ave., where there are ongoing trespassing issues.

“Even when it was occupied, it was a blight issue,” Frye said. “Now it’s fallen far beyond that.”

• 22 E. Gaskill Ave., whose owners have died.

• 714 Scott Ave., where a structural engineer report indicated roof and possible foundation issues.

• 416 Scott St. in Penn Borough, where the yard is littered with garbage and three abandoned vehicles. Frye is the borough’s property maintenance officer and said there are three potential properties there that might qualify for demolition through ARP money.