CINCINNATI - Neighbors in Mount Auburn say they're being targeted for having homes with chipped paint and crumbling stairs.
They think it's a part of a bigger plan to push them out.
So the city met with residents at Woodward High School Thursday evening to hear their concerns.
According to the city code inspector, hundreds of citations have been issued throughout the neighborhood within the last year. Many citations involve issues like overgrown lawns, chipped or peeling paint on homes or crumbling concrete stairs.
The city says pushing for repairs could help enhance the overall neighborhood look.
But Carolyn Clark worries about her century-old house.
"It's nice. It's been in the family since the 1920s," Clark said.
She has lived there more than 20 years. But she says she has received citations and the city is forcing her to make fixes.
"They want repairs on the roof and the gutter and they want me to paint," she said.
She says can’t afford that and she couldn’t sell the house even if she wanted to.
"I don't know how I could sell it because there is this many violations and just to paint it is $10,000 because you have to have scaffolding on this huge porch," Clark said.
Clark worries that developers will try to take over her property. She believes the bigger issue are abandoned homes left empty for years that could eventually catch the attention of outsiders.
"These developers can come in and just point fingers and say, ‘We don't like the way that's painted,’" Clark said.
Clark is hoping the city may be willing to help.
