Last Month, Maura Kennedy Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Philadelphia
Department of Licenses and Inspections was not even introduced fully at the Port Richmond On Patrol & Civic Association’s monthly meeting at Samuel Rec Center when she was greeted with a thunderous applause by its membership.

It was a welcomed change to Kennedy who usually hears the brunt of people’s complaints about L&I backlogs and slow progress, but this time, she was the bearer of good news. She delivered to them a program the L&I department had launched- a new initiative to better hold private owners accountable for the maintenance of their vacant property and L&I was starting in Port Richmond.

Two houses on the 3600 block of Richmond Street were demolished by the City to kick off this program. 3615 and 3617 Richmond Street were sinking, sagging and abandoned. There were unpaid property taxes past 5 years on both properties and a huge tree was growing through the living room.

Maryann Trombetta, President of Port Richmond Town Watch would take pictures of these houses and email it to L&I, the City’s 311 system, and her elected officials asking for help to clean and seal these properties. “They were a big eyesore and were attracting druggies, hookers and teenagers hanging in the open properties at night,” said Trombetta. “Every week I took a picture of these houses and sent it to the City for help-the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

This effort is part of a larger initiative, led by the Managing Director’s Office and the Finance Director’s Office, regarding how both City and privately owned vacant property is bought, sold, and maintained.

Like firecrackers being lit off on 4th of July, residents exploded, calling out certain blighted and abandoned properties they have been dealing with. They called out addresses and locations and were excited about the program, even though many had lived through years of apathy with City services in their handling of blighted properties.

Kennedy laid out the three major points of the program:

• Focus on Finding the Owners: A team of dedicated researchers is culling several databases to find good names and addresses for the owners of vacant properties.
• New Enforcement Measures: The City has new powers to extradite owners of a large number of vacant, blighted properties and attach liens to their personal assets. The City is looking at taking owners of vacant properties to Sheriff Sale for L&I debts. The City will also be enforcing the “doors and windows” ordinance which allows L&I to charge owners $300 per day per opening that is not covered with a functioning door or window. Properties in violation of this ordinance will be posted with a bright pink poster.
• Dedicated Court Time: L&I and the Law Department are working with Judge Moss to have dedicated days to hear vacant windows and doors cases. This will make sure that these cases flow through the legal process quickly.

The effort started with two inspectors in April of this year and has now moved to South District, with additional Districts joining in the effort in the coming months.
According to Kennedy, “So far we have conducted over 1500 inspections of structures that the Department believed to be vacant, generating more than 1300 cases.”

The first “blight court” session occurred on Tuesday, September 20, 2011. Of the 48 cases that were listed, 35 cases entered into a consent agreement and will be installing windows and doors within the next 30-60 days. In addition, these 35 cases will generate more than $87,000 in revenue for the City from payment of license fees, back taxes, and fines.

Of the 176 properties that the Department has cited for windows and doors violations two or more times, 50 properties have complied – a compliance rate of almost 30%!

“While this targeted enforcement effort is still in its early stages, its success is encouraging,” said Kennedy. “I want to thank everyone who has taken part in the effort to date. The Department succeeds because of the hard work of all of its inspectors, supervisors, and research team members.”

On Monday, Mayor Nutter held a Press Conference at 3000 Richmond Street in Port Richmond to talk about this new program and outline the goals for attacking blighted properties in Philadelphia. State Representative John Taylor who authored an anti-blight bill up in Harrisburg hopes his legislation along with the City’s initiative can curb abandoned and blighted properties from scourging the neighborhoods.