Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407250026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He said city workers have wrung their hands, pointed fingers and passed the buck. Meanwhile, piles of garbage, construction materials and other debris at 1428 and 1502 Campbell Avenue continue to grow.
``I've been trying to do something for six months,'' Roupas said. ``I can't get anybody to do anything ... It's nothing but a junk pile. The city dump looks better than that.''
But three city inspectors said they are on top of the problems at both homes and have ordered the owners to clean them up. Roupas, they said, only recently voiced complaints about the properties.
City tax records list Hobert Coffey as the owner of 1428 Campbell and Clyde Coffey as the owner of 1502 Campbell. Roupas said he has been told the two men are brothers.
"Beware of dog" and "No Trespassing" signs are posted prominently on both homes. No phone number is listed for either house, and no one was home when a reporter visited them.
Both the fenced properties sport overgrown grass, plants and trees.
The home at 1428 Campbell is boarded up and padlocked. Its fence is lined with pieces of old paneling, metal sheets and plywood. An old bed, a rusting kerosene heater, some tires, ladders and various tools are strewn haphazardly around the front yard.
Piles of firewood and plywood from 1502 Campbell spill into an adjacent city-owned alley. Scattered around the front yard are old paint cans, ladders, tools and construction materials. The front porch is surrounded by plastic. In the back is an old metal grocery cart. A stacked cinder block compound topped with fencing looks like a makeshift dog pen.
Roupas, who owns a house across the street, said the mess has been there for years. It lowers values of other property on the street - including his own - and is an eyesore for his tenants, he said.
City workers say they are trying to accommodate him.
Barry Stacy, the city's weed control coordinator, said he has sent letters to both Coffeys ordering them to cut their lawns and trim brush. The brothers did not respond, and the 14-day limit for them to complete the work has passed, he said.
``If they don't do it [within two weeks], we can come out and do it,'' Stacy said. Both homes are on a list of places to which the city will send cleanup crews.
But the list is so long it often takes a month or two before the city gets to a particular property, he said. After a cleanup, the city bills the property owner for the cost of the work, usually $150 to $200, Stacy said.
Rob Garnett, a city health inspector, said he is opening a file on 1428 Campbell following a complaint by Roupas this week. The yard is littered with dog feces and trash that could attract rats, Garnett said.
"We'll send a letter and probably go talk" to Hobert Coffey, Garnett said. If Coffey does not comply, "we can take him to court. They can order him to clean it up by a certain date. [Judges] can fine him, but they usually don't."
There are fewer violations at 1502 Campbell, because that property is zoned for light industrial development, Nolen said. That zoning designation allows more outside storage than at a property zoned residential.
Nolen said he sent Hobert Coffey a certified letter ordering him to clean up the property within 10 days.
While it may not be possible to clean up the whole property by then, "In this case, as much [trash as Coffey has to remove], I wouldn't mind if he got started on it in that time period," Nolen said.
by CNB