Wesley Avenue sites lead to call to action

The owner of one dwelling will be cited into housing court.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The electric meter at 110 Wesley Ave. hangs precariously off the side of the bare-wood house stripped of its aluminum siding.
Debris clutters the porch and yard, and the broken porch steps appear to be unsafe. Plywood on the porch leans against a broken front window.
Next door, at 106 Wesley, the front door is wide open and windows are broken out. Some of its aluminum siding has been stripped, and the yard is littered with trash.
The 100 block of Wesley is a quiet neighborhood off Mahoning Avenue on the West Side. Most of the houses, brick or frame with spacious porches, were built in the 1920s.
Complaints about the two eyesores on Wesley were fielded by Detective Sgt. Frank Rutherford at a Westside Nosey Neighbors Block Watch meeting. He later checked out 106 and 110 Wesley and filed a report that went to the housing and demolition, health, fire and litter departments.
Rutherford said in his report that wires from the street to 110 Wesley are hanging low, probably undone from their mooring when the aluminum siding was stripped away. He said the loose wires appear to be a fire or safety hazard, especially for children.
Rutherford spoke to a temporary resident of the house who said the owner, 26-year-old Alex Cherney, ripped the siding off intending to replace it with nice siding but doesn't have the money.
Cherney could not be reached.
Mary Ann Burton, a housing inspector, said several notices have been mailed to Cherney about his property, but he never accepts the notices, and they have been returned. To ensure proof of receipt, she tacked the notice to his porch post two weeks ago and took a photo of it hanging there.
Citation planned
Burton said Anthony Farris, deputy law director and the prosecutor for Municipal Judge Robert P. Milich's housing court, will issue a citation to Cherney.
"It'll now be up to housing court. I'll be there, too, with pictures and other proof," Burton said. "The house is so bad I couldn't go on the porch to post the notice near the mailbox."
She said she's received many complaints about the place.
Neighbors who live near the house spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"It needs to be made livable or taken down," one woman said. "I'd hate to see it taken down, though."
Another woman said that at block watch meetings, the leader asks if there are any complaints "other than about the two houses on Wesley."
Rutherford said the vacant house at 106 Wesley, meanwhile, has broken glass and nails all over the property and the grass looks as if it hasn't been cut all summer. He found garbage bags ripped open and said the conditions provide a breeding ground for snakes, rats and other rodents.
One neighbor told the officer that a pack of wild cats can be seen running in and out of the house.
Burton said she red-tagged (condemned) 106 Wesley on Wednesday. The house is being processed for demolition, which will likely happen next year, she said.
County records show the vacant property was bought by a man from Cincinnati. Burton said the demolition process includes the city's obtaining ownership of the property.
"The neighborhood is full of residents who take pride in caring for their homes and are appalled by this manifestation of urban blight on their block," Rutherford said in his report. He asked that the various city departments take corrective measures.
meade@vindy.com