THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607210043
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 73 lines
Abandoned houses with boarded windows and overgrown lots stand out like rotten teeth among the neighborhood's rows of neat homes with fresh paint and flowered walks.
For longtime residents of the South Norfolk section of Chesapeake, decaying buildings are the most egregious reminders of a once-proud community gone into decline.
Their hope for restoring South Norfolk to its former glory lies with a Neighborhood Preservation Program that started last week when city inspectors began combing the neighborhood for violations of building, zoning and safety codes.
They will eventually scrutinize every South Norfolk house and building that can be seen from a public street, hunting for abandoned cars, piles of junk, knee-high weeds and peeling paint - violations that can drag a neighborhood down.
``Even if the house is nice, we still look at it, because looks can be deceiving,'' said Robin A. Yarbrough, one of three inspectors who spent every day last week patrolling South Norfolk streets on foot and in white city sedans, checking houses and filling out detailed forms.
Most homes in the section of South Norfolk that's being policed have had at least minor problems, Yarbrough said.
Inspectors leave homeowners a yellow violation notice. Notices are also mailed later to ensure the message gets through.
Residents have 10 to 30 days, depending on the severity of the problem, to make repairs. Owners of dilapidated, abandoned houses must raze them.
Inspectors have issued about 50 violation notices a day so far, said John T. King III, the city's environmental coordinator. Some of the abandoned buildings will have to be demolished.
``I know this is doing good,'' King said Thursday.
``A lot of homeowners have already started working on their properties,'' he said. ``We've seen some fresh paint, some property owners out there working when we're out there inspecting.''
Inspectors have divided South Norfolk into 10-block sections, and are tackling one section at a time. Residents will be notified a couple of weeks before inspectors hit the streets, so they can make repairs in advance.
``Most people have been very cooperative,'' Yarbrough said.
Yarbrough tries to convince the homeowners that it is in their best interests to correct violations - repairs will improve safety or boost property values.
``But then there are some people that, no matter how you talk to them, it's going to touch a nerve,'' she said. ``You just have to grin and bear it.''
South Norfolk residents asked the City Council to create the Neighborhood Preservation Program. They said there was no hope for revitalizing their community unless negligent property owners were forced to do something.
``I think it's a wonderful, wonderful thing for this community,'' said Brenda J. Johnson, treasurer of the South Norfolk Civic League and a member of the South Norfolk Revitalization Commission. ``The ones that worry about it are the ones that are at fault or in error. They're the landlords, the slumlords.''
Yarbrough said they have found a couple of buildings ready to collapse, and a mini-junkyard on someone's lawn, but few major violations.
Most residents, such as Geraldine T. Boone, a retired teacher, were cited for minor things.
Boone was told to paint her chain-link fence to protect against rust, and to trim some hedges that separate her side yard from a busy street. She said she will miss the privacy the hedges provide. But she supports the Neighborhood Preservation Program.
``I think it's wonderful,'' she said. ``I haven't heard anybody say anything negative about it.'' MEMO: For more information about the Neighborhood Preservation Program,
or to find out which parts of South Norfolk will be inspected next, call
the city's Environmental Inspections Department at 382-6378.For more
information about the Neighborhood Preservation Program, or to find out
which parts of South Norfolk will be inspected next, call the city's
Environmental Inspections Department at 382-6378. by CNB