The Warren County Blighted Property Review Committee identified two properties as blighted and tabled another during its meeting on Thursday.
Chairman Paul Pascuzzi said the John Filiatrault property at 106 Hall St. in Sheffield has been declared blighted by the Sheffield Township Supervisors.
A fire at the residence on Jan. 13 left the property "severely damaged by fire" with smoke and water damage making the property "unsafe and uninhabitable", according to a police report submitted to the committee.
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The property at 106 Hall St. in Sheffield Township has been identified as blighted by the Warren County Blighted Property Review Committee.
"The Township passes a resolution, it's dated April 16, 2012 declaring the property as blighted. They have this resolution in their report identifying the conditions to Mr. Filiatrault while he is incarcerated in the Warren County Jail," Pascuzzi said, adding that Filiatrault has since left the county jail and his whereabouts is unknown.
"The property is still in that same condition as you can see from the fire back in January, and the supervisors have asked us to move this one forward," Pascuzzi said.
The committee decided to accept the property as blighted and will send a certified letter to Filiatrault, with the help of the Sheriff's office, asking him to come to the next meeting and discuss his plans for the property.
"We've accepted that this is a blighted property and we need to hear from him about what his plans are for that property," Pascuzzi said.
Another property, located at 102 Cottage Place, Russell, owned by Jack Passenger, has been declared a public nuisance under the Pine Grove Township blighted property ordinance.
"The premises is considered to be an attractive nuisance to children, the premises is dilapidated, unsafe, unsanitary, vermin infested or lacking in the facilities or equipment required for healthy human habitation and the structure's a fire hazard or otherwise dangerous," Pascuzzi said reading from the ordinance.
According to a letter from Pine Grove Township Supervisor Chairman Charles Morrison, the structure is not habitable, open to rodents and has been "vacant for a number of months."
The committee voted to accept the property as blighted and will send a certified letter to the owner requesting that he attend the next meeting to discuss the future of the site.
The committee decided to table a Saybrook Road property owned by Anzietta DiPeierro.
"This is a very large commercial property that has been abandoned and dilapidated for many years," Pascuzzi said. "Anyone who drives through Sheffield knows this property."
Pascuzzi said the owners of the property told the Sheffield Township Supervisors that they wanted to use the property as storage and did not want to pay for sewage.
Sewage is required in a commercial building, Pascuzzi said, and the property is in a blighted condition.
"We really have to wait until the township supervisors have heard Mr. DiPeirro on what his plans are for that property," Pascuzzi said.
The committee's next meeting is scheduled for noon on Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Warren County Courthouse.