Jan Michalski is embarrassed to invite friends and family to her home.
Across the street, David Mathews and his wife Pam worry about property values.
And junk strewn across a neighbor’s lawn played a pivotal role in Russ Hynes? decision to pack up and move.
‘My blood pressure would go up 30 points every time I’d mow in his direction,? said Hynes, jerking his thumb toward the home next door to his former Springfield Township property, where seven or eight cars’most filled top to bottom with junk’clutter the driveway and dot the lawn.
‘The cars have always been full of junk,? said Hynes. ‘Full. And there are rodents living under the cars.?
The residents of Walnut Hill are angry, disgusted and tired of looking at the accumulation of blight.
The man who owns the home did not return a call seeking comment, but neighbors say clutter began to pile when he arrived in the late 80s.
Broken toys and large tarp-covered piles of building supplies sit around the yard , while paint peels and weeds grow tall.
‘I can’t drive out of Walnut Hill without looking at it,? said Doreen Hollis, who lives near the street’s dead end. ‘This isn’t the ghetto.?
Far from it. The homes on Walnut Hill are large and well cared for. Yards are meticulously maintained.
Back in 1994, Hynes decided he’d had enough and went to the township, where he discovered Ordinance 16, which prohibits blight.
‘I’d turn in a complaint and ask them to have someone call me,? he said. ‘Not once did they get back to me and say ‘this is what we did, this is what we’re going to do.??
The neighbor, they say, is in violation and they want the mess cleaned up.
‘I drive back and forth and just feel disgusted our township won’t take care of the most obvious blight,? said Tim Feike. ‘We want the ordinance enforced.?
So the neighbors banded together recently in hopes of accomplishing more as a group. They meet regularly to discuss progress, or lack thereof, and attend township board meetings.
Township officials, they say’with a folder of documents to prove it’have been to the property many times since 1994.
Sometimes a ticket is issued, sometimes not, ,but the mess remains.
Several members of the group spoke at the August board meeting.
In frustration over disagreement with officials regarding what does and does not constitute a violation of the ordinance, Doreen Hollis recited dictionary definitions of ‘operable,’a term whose meaning caused contention between the entities.
Cars, according to the ordinance, must be operable.
‘I want to know if someone got in and drove them,? said Bob Hollis, a former certified mechanic. ‘Because those cars have been sitting a long time, and it’s likely the brake lines are shot. Anyone who tried to drive that Renault would end up in the swamp across the street.?
But township Supervisor Collin Walls said ‘significant improvements? have occurred over the years.
However, noted Walls, he can sympathize with the neighbors.
‘The guy who owns the property is a very nice guy he is very sincere,? he said. ‘He appears to be a pack rat extraordinaire. Would I want to live next to that house? I would not. But I can only enforce our ordinances.?
The township, he said is under an obligation to deal with terms, provisions and definitions provided by the ordinance, and definitions read by Doreen Hollis not as defined by the ordinance.
Again, ‘operable? is the term causing contention between the parties.
‘I have been told by a key employee whose word I trust,? said Walls, referring to township employee Leon Genre, ‘that he has personally observed that the vehicles are operable. That’s all I need.?
Genre did not return a call seeking comment.
Describing himself by one of his father’s old sayings, Walls said he felt like the meat in the sandwich, and admitted the situation could have been handled better from the start.
‘The township’has not been as forceful or as prompt in follow through as we should have been,? said Walls earlier this month. ‘And I’ve told them that. But today, based on what I’ve personally observed and what I’ve been told, we do not have a violation of our ordinance. I am not going to issue the man a ticket simply because his neighbors are objecting. I won’t do that to him anymore than I would to them.?
During the inspection in July, Walls said he observed vehicles with plates due to expire August. On a follow-up in early September, he discovered a vehicle without proper plates.
‘I also observed some things I hadn’t seen before,? Walls said, citing a trailer so covered in weeds it went unnoticed previously. ‘In the subsequent inspection there were violations of the ordinance readily apparent, and that’s the basis of issuing a citation.?
Notice of violation, that’s where you come in and pay a fine
In the past, he said, the homeowner has received only a notice of ordinance violation and accompanying fee. The citation, however, requires a district court appearance.
‘He can he indicate guilty and pay a fine,? said Walls, ‘or request a formal hearing.?
Either way, it’s progress in the 13-year long battle on Walnut Hill.