CLEVELAND — Jackie Adams is a Cleveland grandmother who believes hazardous, vacant and condemned homes are one city's leading neighborhood safety issues, so she's hoping the ongoing city property survey will have a positive impact.
Adams told News 5 blight, litter and unkempt homes have unfortunately been a way of life in her East 131st Street neighborhood. She wants the survey data to motivate the city to take action and make badly needed neighborhood improvements.
“Especially abandoned houses, abandoned houses on the street, they just need to get them together because that’s where somebody can dump a body," Adams said. “Like I said, kids could be out here and somebody could drag them in these houses.
According to the Cleveland Property Survey, more than 167,000 homes and structures in the city of Cleveland were looked at for 50 different data points. Cleveland Building and Housing Director Sally Martin believes that the survey will make a difference and help direct millions in neighborhood renovation and demolition funds.
"We will have incredible data after this survey," Martin said. “It will help us identify factors related to lead poisoning risk, we’re looking at factors related to the infrastructure and its stability.”
Martin said the survey, which started in November 2022, will make complete neighborhood assessments across the city.
"So, what do the sidewalks look like? What do the fire hydrants look like? What is the condition of the street trees?” Martin said. "Where do we need to deploy resources to make the biggest difference?”
Martin said the survey will also help the city better address the more efficient removal of vacant and condemned homes, one of the cities biggest health and safety issues.
“We do have a problem with residents having to repeat the same complaints over and over again, and we don’t want to have that happen, we don’t want that continuing," Martin said. “We need to proactively take responsibility to go out and issue citations without waiting for residents to contact us.”
Eric Elmi, chief Cleveland Building Inspector of Main Streets, told News 5 each property will be given a grade from A to F and will be evaluated based on the 50 survey questions. These answers will guide inspectors to suggest property repairs or perhaps later lead to homeowner code citations.
“Improving the neighborhood, it would increase and improve the value of the properties," Elmi said. “We are notifying people to repair their house, by repairing their house the neighborhood will flourish.”
Elmi said he expects the survey to be complete by mid-April, with the data posted and available to the public shortly afterward on the Case Western Reserve University NEOCANDO and Western Reserve Land Conservancy web pages.
Meanwhile, Jackie Adams told News 5 she hopes the survey data will produce more deeds and less dialogue.
"You have to make the people who own these houses do something with them or fine them," Adams said. “Put the work in, put the foot in, quit talking about it, do it and neighborhoods will be beautiful again.”
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