Author Todd B.
A little over a month ago, you published an article about the condition of Our Lady Of Lourdes church on Main Street.
The attached pictures were taken this morning.
How do we as a community hold accountable a property owner/developer who/which apparently has no ethical or moral compass or sense of responsibility to anything beyond their pocket book? Ellicott Development bought the church in 2010. I get that the building was in poor shape when Ellicott bought the building, but if you don’t have the resources or intention to take care of the property you purchase, then maybe you shouldn’t buy it. In 2014, when the company demolished the school and rectory buildings, Bill Paladino was quoted in this publication as stating, that after that demolition was complete “We will then start work on the restoration of the church.”
Hell, the pictures that accompanied your 2014 article show the church more secure than it is today.
Can this be anything other than demolition by neglect? How long does it take to figure out that maybe you should fix the roof and cover the windows? Maybe you need an engineer to assess how to do the needed work. You don’t need an engineer to make the decision to do what is expected of every other property owner in the City. I would also being willing bet a few beers that Ellicott Development just might have someone on the payroll that has some experience in how to work on buildings. And you don’t need a master’s degree to pick up trash.
And it’s not like this hasn’t happened before – anyone remember the history of the Fairmont Creamery building or the Greystone buildings and the loving care that Ellicott showed for these buildings in the years before they decided that it was worth their time and effort (i.e. they decided they could make some money) to actually do something more than make empty promises?
Also – where is the City on this? Are they unclear on their duty here? It seems pretty clear to me that the condition of the building and the property (which probably has at least one full, if not two dumpsters worth of trash and debris lying around) has to constitute a list of building and property code violates a mile long. Does it require a genius to figure out that an unsecured building with holes in the roof probably has a few code violations? Its not like this is hidden, unless you consider driving down Main Street an adventure into a hidden world.
According to the Department of Permit and Inspection Services page on the City of Buffalo’s webpage, that department is supposed to, among other things, do the following:
- Conduct inspections of residential, commercial, and industrial property within the City of Buffalo, for the purpose of insuring compliance with New York State building codes, Federal regulations, and all applicable City Ordinances (zoning, maintenance, construction, licensing etc.)
- Conduct inspections in response to complaints or inquiries from the community and other government agencies.
- Issue Notices of Violation and Notices to Repair or to Demolish, to owners or agents of record.
- Initiate court actions when warranted, prepare related paperwork and provide liaison for City Court.
www.city-buffalo.com/Home/City_Departments/EDPIS/Inspections
If you click through to the page for Slum and Blight, you will learn that the City is supposed to:
· Perform inspections on fire damaged, vacant & abandoned, and generally unsafe properties.
· Strive to locate owners and remedies for each individual case.
· Perform judge-ordered inspections to evaluate buildings for possible demolition.
· Work directly with agencies such as HUD, EPA, DEC, banks and lending institutions to try and resolve issues with various problem properties.
· Grade City properties for the City and County In Rem auctions.
· Perform asbestos surveys on properties prior to their demolition.
www.city-buffalo.com/Home/City_Departments/EDPIS/Inspections/SlumBlight
And if for nothing else, how about that this is located 2-3 blocks from the medical campus, which every politician touts as one of biggest successes of the region in the last 30-40 years (and it probably is), yet we allow this to sit in plain view. Do they think visitors aren’t going to perhaps see this? Why should the residents who work or live near the property have to deal with this? If you were being recruited to, or simply considering a, move here to work at the medical campus or elsewhere in the City and you saw this, what would you think? I’m pretty sure it would not be “wow, they have really have a plan and know what they are doing.”