Federal lien could delay demolition of condemned Arnold building

A federal lien could halt the condemnation of a structure Arnold Council deems a public health and safety hazard.

Acting as the city’s Board of Health, council recently met for a hearing on two abandoned structures code enforcement officer Al Colelli brought forth as potentially hazardous.

The buildings are at 1520 Fourth Ave. and 1507 Victoria Ave.

Council agreed to condemn both properties after Colelli described the deteriorated condition of both structures and his attempts to contact the owners to get them to take corrective action.

However, the Fourth Avenue property carries a federal lien, which made council wary of condemning it outright.

Colelli and redevelopment director Rick Rayburg, himself a former code enforcement officer, said the property went through the judicial sale process and is free and clear of county, school district and local taxes but shows a federal lien.

Colelli said he has been unable to find out what the lien is for and exactly how much it is. He said the only financial burden listed on the property is $5,939.

While it might be assumed that amount is the federal lien, solicitor Jacqueline Shaw said it could be even more and only a thorough title search would determine exactly how much the lien is.

According to Rayburg, the property has been abandoned for at least 10 years. Colelli said the condition of the property is very deteriorated and became even worse after a recent fire there that was ruled an arson.

“I think that this property is a health and safety hazard to the (neighborhood) residents, especially the children,” Colelli said. “There’s nothing left of it. It’s like a big shell now.

“I think it would be to the benefit of the city to tear this building down,” he said.

Colelli said numerous attempts have been made to reach the owner via phone and mail, but he has not received a response.

He said the Westmoreland County Land Bank declined to acquire the property.

That raised a red flag in Shaw’s mind. She said the lien would appear to be the only reason for the land bank to shy away.

“The fact that the land bank backed away from it makes me nervous about the federal lien,” she said.

Council members were concerned that not taking any action on the property might leave the city open to liability.

Also, Rayburg said, a developer looking to build apartments showed interest in that neighborhood when he learned that the city owns vacant lots on either side of 1520 Fourth Ave.

“If that building gets demolished, we could have, like, five empty lots in a row there,” he said.

After some discussion, Shaw and council decided to condemn 1520 Fourth Ave. contingent on the city getting approval to proceed in demolishing it despite the federal lien.

Council then voted to condemn 1507 Victoria Ave. after Colelli said that house has been “in blight for over five years” and a rear porch on the property recently collapsed. He said the property carries delinquent taxes totaling $17,400.

Colelli said he discussed the property over the summer with the owner, who claimed he had no money to repair it.

Since then, Colelli said, the owner has taken no action to bring it into compliance and has failed to respond to Colelli’s subsequent attempts to contact him.

“He’s aware of the situation but refuses to do anything about it,” Colelli said. “Basically, it seems like he just walked away from the property.”