nC
9
Decem 20-28, 1 7, Ie
n
Benton lIarbor area news
Ci
slu
arge
y,
reap' e is paid directly to
landlords. However, the
revised system stops payment
if a landlord does not make
the necessary repairs to bring
building up to code. Similar
programs are used in Grand
Rapi and Muskegon
Heights.
By early December, 104
vendorcd properties had been
referred to the city for inspec­
tion, said We:1 BoweI1D8D, Ber­
rien County DSS director. Of
those, 74 were 'thin the city
limits and 30 were in neighbor­
ing Benton Township.
-We've only removed ven­
doring in four cases," he said.
So, that's good; that's at
we want."
The goal of the program .
to improve the quality of hous­
ing in the area, he said. To
help resolve disputes, DSS of­
ficials and city inspectors have
been meePng with landlords
to discuss the new program.
M of the response been
favor ble, Bowerman said.
Scruggs is least one
landlord in f vor of the
project.
C SDSSIS AI
'1 have not had an ex­
perience with nitpickin&" he
said. "They have been very fair.
"We migh even have .our
$10,000 houses go up to
$40,000 ho if the who e
city is brought up to code ..
LANDLORDS BAILING
oun
However, Bowerman . d
e noticed dvertisemen
for the sale of rental proper­
ti with ccompanying dis­
claimers aling these proper­
ties may hay code enforce-
ent violatio ."
The Rev. athaniel
Gathright, who h orked
(BOCA) codes should m e
their jobs easier, said M ttie
Roddy, director of building
and inspectio .
The ne codes leave less
room for interpretation by th
inspector and are much
clearer than the uniform build­
ing code formerly used by the
city, Roddy said.
"At this point all want
the same thing." she said. "We
want safe and affordable hous­
ing. The city is Dot trying to go
ou and be hard on the
landlord. It's going to take us
all to help solve this problem."
meteen landlords at-
tended the last meeting with
inspectors and DSS officials,
with Benton Harbor tenants
for several years, said the new
program is "going to be beauti­
ful"
"At least now they kno
what they're vendoring money
for," he said. "For years the
DSS veadored money for
houses that weren't fit for a
cat to live in."
Roddy said.
Scruggs agreed that
everyone's help is needed to
olve the problem, ying that
tenants can help.
He said he doesn't mind
replacing furnaces or repair­
ing leaky roofs. But he does
mind th t some of his tenants
sometimes make his job dif­
ficult with "poor house eep-
mg."
Somehow I think there's a
rumor that garbage is going to
become valu ble," he said.
" ot long ago, we hauled six
pickup truck loads of trash
out of a garage."
J arne Scruggs t es pride
in the quality of . 100 or so
rental propertie in Benton
Harbor.
don't ow if you've
heard, b I have the
ho in town," e ys.
Scruggs prefers to rent
property within city limits be­
cause of ter and sewer ser­
vices and 10 r tax r tes. But
him bout the overall
housing situatin in Benton
Harbor:
"If you t e the who e
thing, it's deplor ble," he said.
E ORCEME IS KEY
The key to the program'
success will be enforcement,
Gathright said.
The city employs two full­
time and two part-time build­
ing inspectors. The recent
adoption of the Building Offi­
cials and Code Administration
ORD LE HOUSING
C CE
Affordable housing
scarce in Benton Harbor,
while bandoned houses are
p entiful. Some tenants are
afraid to report housing vio -
tions because they might no
be able to find another p ee
to live. And until recently,
landlords with property that
fell belo cod could continue
to receive rent payments from
the Department of Social Ser­
vices.
But armed with a De hous­
ing code and help from the
Berrien County Department
of Social Services, city officials
are trying to com th
problems.
At a recent City Commis ..
ion meeting, the city replaced
i old building code 'th the
widely used system developed
by the Building Officials Code
Administration (BOCA).
And in ovember, the Ber­
rien County DSS altered its
helter-vendoring progr
toppin rent p ymen to
I ndlords who properties do
no meet local codes.
Under the elter vendor-
in program, rent for welfare
B H hou ing at crisis point
become baadoned ho
Schweitzer said, dding that
vacant buildings are a real
problem in the city.
"Theyre dangero they're
unsightly," he said. "I'm me
they're health hazards. I cer­
tainly wouldn't t one next
to my house.
"Ir, the •
s�eaal&. It the 01:
morale of the aeighborhood,"
Sch itzer said the city
lacks a good computer system
to keep tr of ho that
are abandoned.
"Of course they're so · 0
of funds that they don't have
enough inspectors," he . d.
Wolf predicts that with the •
help of the Berrien County
DSS, inspections will be held
more regularly.
"I uspect that m the past
there has been certain
f voritism, but it' in the past, "
he said. "As far I'm con-
Contin 11
Ho ever, much damage
has already been done,
Gathright said.
"We lost a lot," he said.
Right no , I would charac­
terize the housing situation in
Benton Harbor pretty
tough."
John Schweitzer, director
of Michipn U··
Be OIl Harbor ProjeCt, said
part of the problem in the city,
which has a 52 percent rental
occupancy, ems &om a lack
of communication between
tenants and landlords.
By Darla lep
CIlpitlll News SetVice
Benton Harbor' ousing
problems began about 15
years ago, according to the
Rev. Nathaniel Gathright, 0
has lived in the area for more
than 20 years.
Gathright sUllests that tha
is n city inspection
department miaht � been
lax ·th code enforcemenL
That's en homes became
run-down, along with com­
munity morale, e said.
Tenants started caring less
about the quality of their hous­
ing. did not report code viola­
tions and did not t e care of
houskeeping. he said.
J
ANTS COULD HELP
"My perception is that
people get in the ho have
no relationship with the
landlord, so they don't have
any feeling of ownership:
Schweitzer said. "They don't
get repair m de. Pretty soon
the house is no longer
repairable,"
Houses in disrepair often
WELCO DSS AID
Code enforcement OOD
may become easier with
$40,000 contract with the Ber-
. rien County Department of So- .
cial Services, said Bill Wolf,
who becomes m yor Dec. 28.
ROBE
B LL
"W 're He . To S rv All Your Real Estate ds"
R . ntal pp.
• Commerc R.
• In ment.
CO TRACTOR
Bob - On rI Sue
PAINTI G& DECORATING
ROOFI G·TILE·MARBLE
REMODELING
STATE LICENSED
928-6859
FAST & PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
CALL 926·727 r
'-..u_·ONA£ JANITO
/il��
..
£RCIAL • INDUSTRIAL
"We � Our
For t PrqfeuIonllJ II
IUl.-C"IINSHAW .(111) 127-1757