The Hornell Board of Public Safety appears poised to declare a Canisteo Street property a public nuisance, a rarely used measure that could halt all activity at the residence for as long as a year.
Public safety commissioners agreed on Aug. 13 there is probable cause that 293 Canisteo St. is a public nuisance, citing “the persistence of flagrant and persistent unlawful activity that poses a severe, immediate and direct threat to public health, safety, and welfare of the surrounding neighborhood.”
City officials said the property has racked up 34 “points” within the past six months and 43 points in the past 12 months, far exceeding the statutory thresholds established in city codes to be declared a public nuisance.
Under the city statute, a property may be declared a public nuisance if it accumulates 12 or more points within six months or 18 or more points within a 12-month period resulting from law enforcement and code enforcement actions.
City officials said the Canisteo Street house has been the scene of multiple law enforcement searches targeting felony drug crimes, two unattended deaths, repeated disturbances and weapons and larceny investigations.
The Board of Public Safety scheduled a public nuisance hearing for 9 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 20, at City Hall.
“This property has been an ongoing problem for the neighborhood and the community,” Mayor John Buckley said. “The codes department and the police department have been heavily involved for some time. With the recent arrests (at the property) the points have stacked up quickly”.
According to city officials, the property is part of an estate, with the most recent owner of the residence deceased. Buckley called it a “flop house.”
“There is no management of the property. The person who is tasked with administering the estate lives out of state. He has been very cooperative but he’s not here.” Buckley added.
Buckley said the public nuisance declaration is a step the city rarely takes. The mayor said he can recall only two previous times the city made the public nuisance declaration for a property. The most recent may have been in 2011, when the city declared a Pine Street property a public nuisance.
Condemning the property is not an option, as there are no structural issues that would justify a codes department red flag.
“This is a prime case for the use of the Nuisance Law. And it’s about time,” Buckley said.
Hornell’s public nuisance law requires the city to serve a formal “Notice of Public Nuisance Hearing” to the estate administrator and to all “current occupants and holdovers” at 293 Canisteo St.
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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Hornell safety board poised to declare ‘flop house’ public nuisance
Reporting by Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune / The Evening Tribune
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By Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune | USA TODAY Network
