Sittenfeld unveils three-pronged strategy to reduce blight in Cincinnati neighborhoods

CINCINNATI - A proposed law in Ohio would make it legal for residents to clean up blighted properties in their neighborhoods.

Under current law, neighbors who try to clear trash or debris outside abandoned properties can be charged with trespassing. Senate Bill 16 would change the law so neighbors can clean up outside such properties during daylight hours without fear of prosecution.

Passage of the bill would be a huge help in neighborhoods such as Price Hill, which has lots of abandoned houses that are depressing property values, said Ken Smith, executive director of the neighborhood advocacy group Price Hill Will.

“They don’t have the option of throwing their hands up and walking away and saying it’s not our problem,” Smith said. “It is their problem.”

A resolution to support passage of Senate Bill 16 is part of a three-pronged approach to eliminate blight in the city that Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld discussed at a news conference Tuesday.

Sittenfeld also wants the city to focus its demolition funding on properties that sit within 1,000 feet of a school or a densely populated residential area.

The city has 10 times more funding for demolition this year than it usually does, Sittenfeld said. He wants to make sure that money is spent to raze property that is scheduled for demolition and is most likely to pose a safety hazard to children.

“It’s not just about blight. It’s also about safety,” Sittenfeld said.

Sittenfeld said he would also be pushing to expand a vacant foreclosed property registry the city created last year to hold banks more accountable for the vacant properties they own.

The registry is currently limited to five neighborhoods: College Hill, East Price Hill, Madisonville, West Price Hill and Westwood. Those five, Sittenfeld said, have the city’s highest rate of foreclosures.

Over the past year, 400 vacant, foreclosed properties have been added to the registry, and the city has collected nearly $60,000 in fees from banks, Sittenfeld said.

If all three parts of this approach are adopted, Sittenfeld said, “Citizens will be empowered. Children will be safer. And banks will be accountable.”