Neighbors say they are concerned that 813 Green St. has been abandoned for 12 years. Photo by Michael Lee Pope.
The 800 block of Green Street is tucked away in a quiet part of Old Town, a few blocks west of Washington Street where spring flowers are in bloom and neighbors know each other by name. Except Michael Wargo. Property records say he purchased 813 Green St. in 1989 for $263,000. But neighbors say he hasn't lived in the house for 12 years, and they are concerned that the house is a firetrap that's attracting wild animals and growing concern.
"How would you like it if you bought a home on a quaint street in Alexandria only to learn that you lived next door to a vacant hoarded home?" asked attorney Andrew Carroll, a prominent lawyer hired by two neighbors. "What we have is a clear and present danger to the citizens in this row of townhouses."
Last week, Carroll and his clients joined several Green Street homeowners to take their case to City Council. Appearing at City Hall during a public hearing, neighbor after neighborhood stood before elected leaders to explain how they felt the house had become an embarrassing eyesore, potentially depressing the value of the other houses on the block. But city officials say there's little they can do.
"At this point, we would not declare it as being hoarded," said John Catlett, director of Code Administration. "We can't force somebody to live in a home."
THE PROBLEMS BEGAN a dozen years ago in 2001, when the owner moved away. Neighbors became increasingly concerned about the abandoned house on the block, and asked city officials do something. In 2004, they condemned it but then overturned the decision. By 2011, the neighbors were demanding action, so they hired Carroll, a land-use attorney who is well known to elected leaders and city officials.
"I'm really afraid to live there," said Kathy Tabak, who lives next door. "We've definitely heard animal noises through our walls, so there are obviously animals in there."
Catlett says the homeowner has taken all the appropriate steps to file the house as a vacant building, giving city officials a point of contact if there are problems at the townhouse. More to the point, though, the code enforcement director said the Green Street home does not meet the classic definition of a hoarded home, which are almost always occupied. He said city inspectors often find that residents are defecating in their bathtubs because their fixtures don't work, and their movement through the houses is limited to tiny paths amongst the clutter.
"None of those kinds of conditions were found at this property," said Catlett. "I think what we have is a disagreement about whether this is a violation of the code."
CITY OFFICIALS say neighbors have the ability to take their concerns to a local appeals board. And if they don't like that decision, they can take their case to the State Building Code Technical Review Board. Catlett said that's the process neighbors should use to appeal the decision, not bringing their concerns to the Alexandria City Council. But nine neighbors appeared before council members Saturday morning to make sure the elected officials heard their concerns.
"We really believe it's a threat to our health and safety," said Thomas Esbrook, who lives nearby. "The appearance of the place is a mess, and the property values are probably not going up on Green Street. They are probably going down because of this house."
Neighbors are concerned that city officials aren't doing enough. Because the house is unoccupied, the code inspection did not perform that the maintenance code supervisor calls a "soup-to-nuts inspection" of the electricity and the plumbing. That's a concern to neighbors because the house continues to receive electricity and water service despite the fact it's unoccupied.
"If there were any kind of an electrical problem, a short or something, if there were any kind of a gas leak no one is there to tend to it," said Tabak. That's what we are very concerned about."
NEIGHBORS ARE CALLING on elected leaders to press city officials into action. They want the utilities to be turned off, and they want an independent third-party inspection to make sure all city codes are being followed. Council members said they would make sure that code enforcement officials are upholding regulations to ensure that grass is mowed and snow is shoveled. Meanwhile, Catlett said, he would make sure that the homeowners had an application to appeal his decision.
"We'll follow up," pledged Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg.