Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes January 16th, 2013 Mission: Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents, employees and visitors by enforcing codes on negligent property owners, housing violations, parking violations, disruptive behavior, excessive noise and underage drinking in the Oakland neighborhood. I.
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In attendance: Brian Hill, David Manthei, Wanda Wilson, Kristin Kovacic, Barbie Arroyo, Bernelle Wood, Geof Becker, Kannu Sahni, John Wilds, Nathan Hart, Kyle Stewart, Mark Oleniacz, Henry Cianciosi, Maria Bethel, Catie Stephenson, Rebekkah Ranallo, Blair Kossis, Tara Sherry-Torres, Officer Matt White, Officer Eric Palaski Introductions; Brief new members (Geof Becker, 5 minutes) Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement Defining the mission of the Liquor Control Enforcement, reviewing the LCE’s role in enforcing the misuse of alcohol in commercial and residential settings. (Officer Eric Palaski, 35 minutes) a. Liquor Control Board (LCB) handles licensing for bars. Since, 1987, Liquor Control Enforcement (LCE) has handled enforcement. They help investigate sale of liquor without license. Officer Palaski’s office covers six counties. One thing they do is investigation of “speakeasies.” First level of enforcement is in city court, often results in plea bargain and a disorderly conduct ruling. LCE will sometimes collaborate with city on raids. For private residences, they have to coordinate with Pitt or City Police. Cited Semplefest as an example. They share intelligence with campus police and offices especially around fake ID production. b. In general, LCE is more focused on bars operating without a license. Officer Palaski emphasized fact that City Police has ultimate enforcement power when it comes to large parties. c. Liquor licenses can move anywhere within a county and are tracked by what’s called an “L.I.D. number.” d. Nate described a sample large party scenario in Oakland and asked how Officer Palaski’s bureau can get involved. Sometimes they can investigate complaints through Facebook pages. They could possibly try to send younger undercover officers to party. Sometimes party hosts know about this and require student identification to get in. e. Tara asked about who to advocate to for changes in policy; answer was legislature. f. Oakwatch will be in touch with Officer Palaski in future to discuss further coordination of efforts.
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Over Occupancy Worksheet (Blair Kossis, Community Q&A, 15 minutes)
a. Blair reviewed worksheet with group and asked for questions/comments. b. Wanda explained difference between number of units in a building versus overoccupancy of each individual unit. c. Wanda suggested to group to really focus efforts on particular areas/streets and prioritize. d. Nate pointed out getting tenants on our side should be a big focus especially when it comes to helping them get their security deposit back. e. Brian Hill noted that Squirrel Hill has experienced a 50% increase of post office box rentals this year after the big case on Beeler Street. f. Kristin asked for clarification around word “comply” under postal carrier section— Oakwatch will edit this. g. Geof asked about coordination with Parking Authority and possibility of them printing out report of how many permits are issued to a particular address and how many guest passes; Brian is unsure of how strong of evidence this would be in court but says Parking Authority does send BBI some information. Mark pointed out loophole with visitor’s pass since there are no numbers on them—can we work with Parking Authority to better refine/track this system in future? h. Wanda confirmed that CJ Liss is willing to partner with us in enforcing these cases in court. i. Brian Hill emphasized importance of cooperation of postal carrier. V.
Keep It Clean Oakland Report on trash pick-up by court-mandated and student group volunteers; (Rebekkah Ranallo, 5 minutes) a. Next Adopt-a-Block: Saturday, January 26th, 10am-12pm—if you see these students on your street, please say hello—it makes a huge impact! b. 36 total Adopt-a-Block groups, 300 students participating c. OPDC has mobilized 120 court-mandated volunteers to date for the 2012/2013 academic year d. If you notice your street needs additional attention or have ideas or needs for volunteers, please contact OPDC’s Keep it Clean, Oakland manager at 412.621.7863 ext. 24 or kico@opdc.org.
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Oakland Property Progress Report (Rebekkah Ranallo, 10 minutes) a. 3738 Dawson Street: 120 day continuance is in effect. Brian Hill reported no progress as of today. Nate says there is claim they have land operations permit, Brian Hill is not sure if that’s true because there’s lots of approval that needs to go through for that. Public Works needs to sign off, etc. b. 3109 Forbes: They filed for appeal; next hearing on February 12th c. 253 N. Dithridge: BBI is looking into who Mardan Properties is; there are no officers or members listed with state, all they have to do legally is list attorney’s address. BBI thinks they’ve tracked Heil (owners) to Upper Saint Clair. d. 3101 Niagara: Slomnicki fined $10,000 by Judge Gallo. Did not indicate whether or not he would appeal—we will continue to track. e. Robinson Street: VA construction is done, traffic shouldn’t be an issue. Local deliveries are allowed. Brian asked about no truck signs on Robinson Street. Tara
will follow up with West Oakland residents. Geof suggested we take this off Top 10 list. f. 100 Oakland Avenue: no progress g. 3421 Parkview Avenue: Solic was fined $13,500 and says he will appeal. Kristin says he’s moving some stuff around in front of his house but no real progress. Wanda said Judge Gallo was very careful to levy reasonable fine so his appeal is not overturned. Kristin stressed they are very concerned about fire and asked about how they can address that while awaiting next hearing if he appeals. Brian said to ask CJ about an injunction but he doesn’t ever see that happen. Geof asked about what kind of legislative changes we can look at to address these serious safety concerns. Wanda says we should talk to CJ about what scenario is for executing on fine, what is process with county, etc? Brian said City can file for injunction and take possession of his property. Barbie spoke about example in Beltzhoover that failed even after house burnt down. Wanda says we will talk to CJ about this. h. Fagnelli Plumbing: BBI found that lot doesn’t actually have occupancy permit, they cited them before the holidays and it has now being submitted for legal action. VII.
Community Announcements & Events (Community, 5 minutes) a. Pitt-Be a Good Neighbor-John says block parties were a success and Pitt wants to do them again this year and plan accordingly. This is also being internally discussed at Pitt among Alcohol Task Force. Students will be asked to take a pledge to be a good neighbor. They will provide educational materials on how to live responsibly within a residential community. John and Kannu passed around a draft that includes training for students who are currently on campus but will be moving off campus eventually. Once finalized, the materials will be widely publicized. They will be doing some underage drinking education events within University. Geof asked about institutional support for block parties, etc. Pitt Police is also in support. John spoke about re-engaging Commander Sean Elise from Pitt Police in Oakwatch meetings. Geof asked about holding an event for landlords for round table discussion on best practices. Wanda said OPDC is figuring out management of this program internally and will report more in the future. b. Coltart Street Success (Wanda Wilson) Wanda announced the owner of a building on Coltart Street withdrew his proposal to add to his building after community protest at ZBA. Great example of successful community organizing around zoning issues. c. Oakland Green Team Meeting: 1/24, 6pm, Oakland Career Center, 294 Semple St. d. NeighborWorks and OPDC hosting free workshop on finance/budget management on 2/21 (see flyer) e. Maria Bethel announced that 10 and 12 Cable Place were submitted to Disruptive Properties for drug paraphernalia; 375 North Craig Street for disorderly conduct. Officer White noted that this address has a bad reputation. f. Officer White announced Zone 4 has started up the “Oakland Impact” detail again after the holiday break, again operating on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Lots of citations from this past weekend. They will wait to see if activity decreases as winter progresses.
g. Pitt and CHS are collaborating to host a renter’s rights workshop on Jan 22nd. First in a series. h. David Manthei asked about placing 4512 Centre Ave on Top 10 list—drug activity behind house. VIII.
Next meeting- February 20, 6:00 pm, Location TBD
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Meeting Adjournment
Remember to keep flooding 311 with calls about the nuisance properties in your neighborhood, and let Oakwatch know when you do! You can submit reports to our email account at oakwatch@opdc.org or call us at 412.621.7863 ext. 27. Thanks for keeping us in the loop! X.
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