Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton The City of Warren’s Blighted Property Review Committee on Thursday heard an update about redevelopment efforts of this structure, located at 500 Water St.

No one seemed to disagree with the idea that one of the apartments at 500 Water St. met the criteria for a blight designation.

While that apartment is vacant, the rest of the building is not. That raised some interesting questions at Thursday’s City of Warren Blighted Property Review Committee meeting.

Scott Taylor, the city’s zoning and ordinance enforcement officials, told the committee that the second and third floor of the building along Fifth Ave. are not occupied currently. He added, though, that there are three first-floor apartments.

Apartment 7 that faces Fifth Ave. was the one before the committee.

Taylor told the committee that a number of cats – the number appears to have been 14 – were removed by the humane society, the tenant was evicted and the apartment “had to be gutted before anything can move forward.”

The end result of that is the source of the debris pile visible from the road.

Denise Whipp, the committee’s vice chair, asked if the other apartments are lived in.

“The two facing Water St. on the first floor, they are inhabited,” Taylor said. “Even though it’s an apartment or duplex, it does not stop our process. What makes it more difficult is you have one residential water service supplying the entire building.”

Blighted properties are required to be vacant.

“I just question what we can actually do,” Whipp said.

“We’re asking him to bring apartment seven up to code,” Director of Codes and Planning Randy Rossey explained.

The owner, Michael Donahue, told the committee that there were “a lot of legal steps that I had to go through” to obtain ownership of the property.

He walked the committee through the steps he’s taken to rehabilitate the apartment which can certainly be described as extensive.

Donahue said he’s purchased all of the supplies that will be needed to finish the restoration.

He acknowledged that he didn’t realize the eyesore the debris pile would cause.

“I regret that immensely,” he said. “That was my mistake,” acknowledging he “certainly bit off more than I can chew” with the property. “I am climbing back out of that hole.”

He told the committee that he believes he will have the apartment rehabilitated within 60 days.

“I commend you for the progress it sounds like you’ve made,” Whipp said. “To me, the biggest concern is the debris outside.”

Taylor acknowledged that the city receives complaint calls every week regarding the structure.

“They want to see something done,” Donahue acknowledged, stressing that it is “actively… moving forward on this property.”

“One positive I see,” Committee member Douglas Hearn said, is the trash out back “says someone is doing something…. People that live in that neighborhood see it as a trash problem.”

He told Donahue cleaning up the debris could quiet down the complaints.

The committee agreed to table action on a potential blight declaration for three months.

An extension with periodic updates was also granted to the owners of 7 Madison Ave., a duplex where the other half of the structure – 9 Madison – is occupied.

Taylor said that 7 Madison “meets all the criteria for blight by statute” but added that he is “more than willing to work” with the owners to “bring the property back up to habitable status.”

He added that 7 Madison was posted uninhabitable due to reports of a cockroach infestation and the condition of the interior in addition to structural issues.

The owner, Richard Johnson, told the committee he was aware of the issues when he bought the property.

“(I’ve) been cleaning the apartment out so I can do work inside,” he said, telling the committee he is hoping to have the project complete within six months.