Published: July 08, 2008 11:55 pm            

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM: West Avenue property is unsightly, unkempt

A mini-jungle in the triangle between West Avenue and West Genesee Street is the home of skunks, groundhogs and rodents, according to Stanley Wilson, who lives next door at 126 West Ave.

A 7-foot tall pricker bush reaches the garage roof on the West Genesee side of the home at 134 West Ave. Tons of birds make nests along the rotted out gutter line of the red brick house. Vines cover the east side of a building that once housed two apartments. The roof of the front porch is caving in, and so are the stairs.

Wilson has to deal with the problem daily, he says. He is afraid to have his grandchildren play near the unsightly property that starts on West Avenue and stretches back to Genesee Street.

“I don’t want them attacked by a skunk, a woodchuck, whatever. It’s a brown furry thing. I don’t know what it is,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. I don’t complain, but this is ridiculous.”

Wilson complained to city hall. Alderman-at-Large Joe Kibler came to the home and the front lawn was cut once. Community Pride workers are the ones who cut the front lawn, but they thought it was too dangerous to send a crew to the back yard that faces Genesee Street, according to Wilson.

The front yard, which is on West Avenue, needs work again. The backyard needs big equipment.

Who will do it?

“We can’t walk on somebody’s property,” Mayor Michael Tucker said Tuesday. “We’re not going to take care of it. We’ll just try to get a hold of the owner.”

The property was purchased by Bruce Rosewarne of Cheektowaga on Oct. 11, 2007, for $5,500 at the city tax foreclosure auction. Rosewarne has two addresses on city forms, P.O. Box 1960 in Cheektowaga and 1137 Walden Ave. in Cheektowaga. He is not listed in the phone book or through information. The next month, Nov. 30, 2007, he sold it to Lisa Regan Clark of Surrey, England, for $19,900.

Wilson believes it was flipped again. “The building inspector told me they turned around and sold it again,” Wilson said. “I’m trying to find out who it was.”

The city requires out-of-town owners to appoint a local property manager the city can reach.

The property has outstanding city and county taxes. The owner owes $519 to the county. Unpaid taxes could lead to another foreclosure.

“I still cut my grass every week,” said Wilson who had heart surgery last year. “The city’s got to do their part. We got wild animals in there.”

The city picked up the skunk that was killed crossing West Genesee.

Wilson, a 15-year resident of 124 West Ave., has another problem with his property. It is not a truck route, but trucks often use the city street, turning off Route 31. “These semis come barreling through, and they’re not supposed to,” he said. “There are skid marks from trucks at the stop sign for Hawley Street. They take the short cut.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.

        

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