Hamilton man feels caught in new nuisance process

City says rules protect neighborhoods.

J. Willard Cruz, who has successfully rehabbed several homes in Hamilton, says he’s having trouble renovating two other buildings because city-owned utilities won’t turn on the electricity or water.

Part of Cruz's problem is that his property at 261 Washington has been called before Hamilton's new Nuisance Appeals Board, which has the power to declare specific properties public nuisances, a step toward forcing demolition or rehabilitation. The city this year has made it a priority to eliminate blight that brings down neighborhood morale and property values.

“If the goal is compliance, how can I comply if I’m not given the resources or the electricity and water?” asked Cruz, who complained about the situation at a Hamilton City Council meeting.

Hamilton Neighborhood Development Director Eugene “Bud” Scharf told the Journal-News this week: “If the rehab plan is acceptable, the city will release certain utility holds. Utility holds are placed based on the condition of the property and neighborhood safety.”

Cruz’s company purchased in late June the building at 261 Washington St. from his wife’s company. It has no electricity or water. Another of his buildings, at 641 S. 11th St., has electricity, but no water.

“I got permits on both properties from (Hamilton) Construction Services,” Cruz told the council. “Even when they passed it, I still can’t get water. I still can’t move the electric from the previous owner to my name because the Health Department has a hold on there.”

Scharf explained the holds.

“At the time Mr. Cruz’s company, Aristocrat (RealEstate LLC), submitted a rehabilitation plan to health (officials), the title transfer had not yet been recorded,” Scharf said. “Therefore, under our rules, the rehab plan could not be accepted. If the deed transfers have been recorded, Mr. Cruz can now file a rehab plan.”

Scharf said in one of Cruz’s properties, “The electric has been off since 2009; the city requires an inspection before energizing wiring to assure safety.”

City officials said they are trying to avoid the practice of transferring properties from one person to another family member or business partner as a way to prevent the city taking legal action against the new owner. Cruz said that was the case with the two properties, although, he added: “My wife (Christina Schlembach) runs her company. I run my company. Totally separate.”

County Auditor’s records show Affordable Housing in 513 LLC sold both properties to Aristocrat RealEstate on June 23.

261 Washington St.

At 261 Washington, Cruz said he and his workers can only use a battery-powered drill because there’s no electricity or water.

“As soon as I can get electricity, this one will look as great as the other ones,” Cruz said. He said he used an electric generator for a while, but, “It blew through like $20 worth of gas in an hour and a half.”

641 S. 11th St.

At 641 S. 11th St., workers have electricity, but had to borrow water from neighbors to make grout for tiles. Huge amounts of overgrown brush, including trees and bushes, recently were cleared from the property. But the work crew wasn’t able to power-wash the building’s exterior without their own water, Cruz said.

“The back yard was a forest,” Cruz said, noting he found drug users’ needles behind the house. “When I’m done with it, this house will look as amazing as any other house.”

“If this house was power-washed, it would look a ton better,” he said, noting he can’t borrow that much water from neighbors.

Already, Ron Retherford, who lives across the street, is impressed with Cruz’s work.

“The outside, man, it was a mess,” Retherford said. “He’s done a lot of work to it. The whole front of that house, you couldn’t see it.”

626 Woodlawn Ave.

Neighbors of Cruz’s building at 626 Woodlawn Ave. in Lindenwald have been pleased to see the significant upgrade to the one-bedroom home’s exterior. The home’s interior is just as beautifully redone, and Cruz showed it off.

Before the renovation, “It was a mess,” said Anna Franklin, who has watched the property’s progress, as she and others sat on benches across the street and described what they called a “beautiful” transformation. “We thank God somebody did something.”

“I have people stop and say, ‘I’m so glad you’re doing something with that house.’ I get that every single day,” Cruz said.

“The city is happy the neighbors are pleased with Mr. Cruz’s work,” Scharf said in response to a Journal-News question, but violation notices from the city prompted the rehabilitation work, he indicated.

“The policy as a whole, I agree with the (nuisance abatement) policy. If there’s owners who don’t want to do the work, and don’t want to fix the property, I don’t want them in the city of Hamilton myself,” Cruz said. “I think, first of all, you’ve got to give everyone a chance. But if you’ve got someone that’s demonstrated to you that they’re capable of doing the work, you should give them that chance.”

Cruz offers high praise for the city’s Construction Services staff.

“Construction Services, those guys are awesome,” Cruz said during visits to some of his properties. “This house, when we did the plumbing, they denied it the first time. But you know (what the regulations are). They’ve got a code (they follow). You know what to expect going in. This process here (the nuisance-declaration process), they’re making rules as they go along.”

Scharf said the city’s new regulations were “vetted for approximately one year including public hearings and presentations to various groups before being enacted by City Council.

Scharf noted the Nuisance Appeal Board has members from the Chamber of Commerce, the Investment Property Owners’ Association and Neighborhood Housing Services to ensure that all aspects of each case are discussed.”

“There were literally dozens of people that appeared to give opinion and ask for changes or modifications to these rules and regulation,” Scharf added. “I do not believe Mr. Cruz was present at any of these meetings concerning the changes to rules.”

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