Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes March 19th, 2014
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.
In attendance: Geof Becker, Robert Beecher, Maria Bethel, Alicia Carberry, Steven Cetra, Stephen Chase, Alex Coyne, Ethel DeIulius, Shawn Ellies, Grant Gittlen, Ron Jardini, Guy Johnson, Hanson Kappelman, Kevin Kerr, Blair Kossis, Mark Kramer, Shannon Leshen, Janice Lorenz, Michael Medwed, Rebekkah Ranallo, Lawrence Robinson, Blithe Runsdorf, Kannu Sahni, Lara Sullivan, Liz Style, Jason Wald, John Wilds, Wanda Wilson.
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Mayor’s Office Update: (Grant Gittlen) Grant Gittlen spoke on the newly-passed Open Data Law. Sponsored by Councilwoman Rudiak, this law is the first of its kind in Pittsburgh. Filing right-to-know requests are no longer required to see information such as building and occupancy permits. In setting up the system, a community platform will launch in order to discover what data is wanted first. The Strategy Manager, Laura Meixell, is interested in community input as far as prioritizing what data is available first. The end goal is to have a region-wide online portal, hopefully accessible by the end of this year. Geof Becker: Could there be a way to view how many parking permits are issued per district? Will crime statistics be available? It is public record when an officer is dispatched to an address-- could we marry these data sets? Mr. Gittlen: There is a precedent for these numerics. We will push for all of those things. Potholes and other updates: Hot mix is in! John Wilds asked if there is a plan in place for distribution. Grant responded yes, and that the city is working on releasing the information on what is getting fixed in which order. Governor Corbett came to town recently to announce that the City of Pittsburgh is still under Act 47: the Financially Distressed Municipalities Act. Mayor Peduto made 45 appointments and nominations to boards, they are under review of council now. 65 city employees took the early retirement offered, translating to about $6.5 million in savings for taxpayers over time. The Mayor’s Office is looking into the underlying issues of community concern regarding how the party at 305 Coltart was handled. Liz Style: I want to reassure everyone that leadership is in place for the turnover. Continue to call 911 and to call your contacts. Janice Lorenz: What happens to the knowledge base when so many people retire? Grant Gittlen: It is passed on through training and through the sharing of contact information.
III.
Social Host Ordinance Update: (Kevin Kerr, Officer Leshen) Kevin Kerr: Short term, the Social Host Ordinance is meant to give the police a tool to crack down on underage parties. Long term, it is meant to improve nightlife. When the nighttime economy manager is hired, he or she will come up with a plan on how best to train and educate those who may use this tool. Councilman Kraus’ office did send a letter to the owners of 305 Coltart to key them in. Officer Leshen: It was through the community asking about the incident at 305 Coltart and why a Social Host
citation was not issued that it was brought to my attention that the ordinance is not yet enforceable. Through a chain of emails with Assistant City Solicitor Stephanie Eggar, I found out that we are currently prevented from enforcing this by a State law. We have been instructed to not enforce it. It is going through the Law Department now. Grant Gittlen: This is the first I’m hearing of this. I have a meeting with Director [of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management] Huss and can bring this up there. Wanda Wilson: Why does it need to go through the Law Department again? Councilman Kraus thoughtfully and intentionally sent it through already. This is perplexing. Geof Becker: It seems we had the same issue last month with enforcement on a legislative and administrative level. We should be six months into using the Social Host Ordinance. What can we expect for next month? Kevin Kerr: All the answers we can find. IV.
Graffiti: (the group) Alicia Carberry: Apparently, graffiti removal in freezing temperatures is not feasible. Now that the weather is breaking, can we talk about how we can collaborate to tackle graffiti? Shannon Leshen: The Graffiti Task Force no longer exists but the Zones are each equipped with digital cameras. Hanson Kappelman: How does it work, one department tracks it and another removes it? Liz Style: The Police track it and Department of Public Works removes it. The Mayor has said he will reinstate the Graffiti Task Force. Grant Gittlen: Yes. We are bringing it back. Better lighting was suggested as a deterrent for graffiti artists, and submitting 311 reports to alert the Department of Public Works. Hanson Kappelman: The DPW is limited to commercial properties. Alex Coyne: I am hesitant to call 311 on residential owners. There is a new product from SEI Chemical that acts as a preventative coating on porous surfaces. At $600 a gallon, it is an investment. Wanda Wilson: We can get in touch with property owners to see about pulling resources to tackle this together. This will make for a good summer project for KICO. Hanson Kappelman: Is there a city ordinance in place to cite private property owners? Wanda Wilson and Liz Style: Yes. Wanda Wilson: We will gather data and have more of a report at the next meeting. Alex Coyne: I know as far as tagged Post Office boxes go, we can’t mess with them. Liz Style: I will check with the URA to see about resources regarding federal property. I will put a question in to the US Attorney’s office. Wanda Wilson: This could make for a great pilot program to translate to other neighborhoods. Geof Becker inquired about tagged street signs and those are city property. Ron Jardini: 3 of my buildings have been graffiti-ed. I asked the tenants if they knew anything and they do not. I installed 8 security cameras for under $500 as a deterrent. Shannon Leshen: Take three steps. A) File the report so that Police may track. B) Submit footage. C) Track your expenses in the case that a perpetrator is caught. Janice Lorenz: What is the time frame for a private property owner to deal with graffiti? Mr. Jardini: Starting when the city sends you a notification letter… Alex Coyne: 15-30 days. Geof Becker: A good place to start is with 311, and soon we will have public access through Open Data to 311 reports.
Grant Gittlen agrees. Liz Style mentions that South SIde’s Community Council has Paint Out Days to take care of graffiti. She will give the contact information of the project leader to Alicia Carberry for discussion. V.
Oakland Targeted Property List Progress Report: (Brian Hill via Alicia Carberry) New additions: -3408 Parkview: A truck has been “backfilling” the hillside with chunks of cement. -15 Oakland Square: Owners were denied permit to make their property 2-unit but have continued with construction. BBI has issued a stop-work notice. -306 Ophelia: Suspected over-occupancy; still in the information-gathering stage. -320 Ophelia: Suspected over-occupancy; still in the information-gathering stage. Updates: -The house on Dawson that was leveled by an explosion in November is now all cleaned up. The sidewalk is still broken but has been reported to 311. -OPDC is reaching out to the owner of 244 Dunseith to encourage him to sell his property since his negligence has continued. -BBI has re-cited the owner of 3101 Niagara and Inspector McPherson is processing. -3421 Parkview is still in appeals. The group was asked for additions to the targeted property list, and encouraged to care about reporting overoccupancy violations.
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University of Pittsburgh Police: (Officer Guy Johnson/ Officer Steve Cetra) Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown/ Q&A. For February: 3 disorderly conducts, 12 marijuana (8 on campus, 4 off), 4 drug violations (2 on campus, 2 off), 6 DUIs (all offcampus), 6 public drunkenness (3 on, 3 off), 25 underage drinking (23 on campus, 2 off), 4 public urination (all off campus), 1 aggressive panhandling, 3 warrant arrest (1 on campus, 2 off). A relatively quiet St. Patrick’s Day weekend thanks in part to Spring Break. Officer Cetra reported that he visited 343 Lawn and 3201 Joe Hammer Square upon request of the Citizen Observer Patrol the day after each place hosted a party. He delivered warning letters, and verbally made the residents aware of the laws and ordinances. He always asks them if they have any questions. 343 Lawn contains 6 tenants-- 4 Point Park students and 2 Pitt. Geof Becker asked that the property be pursued for an over-occupancy citation and asked Officer Cetra if he would be willing to testify that 6 people reside there. Officer Cetra said yes, if subpoenaed. Hanson Kappelman asked if anything would legally bar Cetra from sharing information he finds out on a visit, expressing interest in following up. Kannu Sahni and John Wilds agreed that over-occupancy is a safety issue. Mr. Kappelman brought up the liability issue, that if anything were to happen on the premises, the property insurance would become voided.
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University of Pittsburgh Crime Report: (Kannu Sahni) Introduction, Q&A. Kannu introduced the group to the University’s crime statistic report that is available online: Chart I and Chart II from the ‘For Safety’s Sake’ magazine report. Kannu said that discussion on frequent crime-reporting from the University (the report presented covers the years 2010-2012) can resume at the Responsible Hospitality Institute meetings as part of the Sociable City plan.
Ethel DIulius: My neighbors to the left and right are students renting from absentee landlords. When they go out of town, they put their trash out days before pick-up. University of Pittsburgh Police Commander Ellies: We will pay them each a visit and talk to them about trash practices. Kannu: A situation like this is a good example for the importance of increased neighborliness. Encouraging a greater sense of community could provide a way for the students to be comfortable asking neighbors to put out the trash for them. VIII.
Zone 4 Police: (Officer Leshen) Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown/ 305 Coltart, Q&A. January and February citations: 10 disorderly conduct, 11 public drunkenness, 2 obstructing roadway/ public passage, 6 underage consumption, 6 false ID, 1 excessive noise, 1 open container, 3 littering, 1 interference with official duties, 3 public urination. January and February arrests: 27 drug-related, 4 simple assault, 5 DUI, 6 thefts, 3 warrant, 3 armed burglary, 3 disorderly conduct. Trends: -A highrise at 4601 5th Avenue had numerous burglaries. Police apprehended the maintenance man responsible for the thefts and then worked on an identification operation to engrave drivers’ licenses into high ticket items. -An apartment building near Bellefield and Craig reported burglary alerts. The suspect is a 30-35 plump female who is black. -Thefts from autos have decreased. Regarding last month’s concern of the party at 305 Coltart that Zone 4 police evacuated but made no citations, Officer Leshen spoke to 2 of 4 officers who were on site to break up the party. They reported the residents were extremely cooperative. If the alleviation of a problem is imminent, the police use discretion in citations. No Social Host citations were made Hanson Kappelman: An incident such as that bears the weight of repetition. Officer Leshen: With the new CAD software in police cars, officers can immediately discern call history. There had not been any previous incidents at 305 Coltart. Alicia Carberry: At the last Oakwatch meeting during the Coltart discussion, mention of 4 officers taking a half hour to break up the party but making no citations warranted the question: Well, what citations could be even be made at that point? Officer Leshen: Possible citations in a situation like that could have been made for obstructing roadways, underage consumption, or public drunkenness. Officer Leshen reported that she had paid a proactive visit to the owners of Winghart’s (the new whiskey and burger bar where Pittsburgh Cafe used to be on Meyran) and they were very cooperative in agreeing to nip any rowdy behavior in the bud and keep the peace. Alex Coyne: If there are other concerns, OBID could reach out as well.
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Citizen Observer Patrol: (Alicia Carberry) Volunteer patrols went out Friday, Saturday, and Monday nights in order to be extra eyes and ears on the street, and were well-pleased to find the neighborhoods relatively quiet. Two houses were noted as being noisy, and Officer Cetra has already hand-delivered each place a letter warning against future disruptive behavior.
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Next meeting: 6PM on Wednesday, April 16th, 2014 at the Career Center at 294 Semple Street in Oakland.
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Meeting Adjournment. Contact Oakwatch: oakwatch@opdc.org or 412.621.7863 ext. 27. Thanks for keeping us in the loop!