The Veterans Administration owns 15 N. Irvine St. in the City of Warren.

City staff believe the property can be rehabilitated.

But the government won’t respond.

With little recourse, the city’s Blighted Property Review Committee passed a second declaration of blight against the property during a Thursday meeting.

“This property has been on the department’s list for quite some time,” Scott Taylor, the city’s zoning and ordinance official said.

When it first came across the city’s radar, Taylor said the property was in a “state of disrepair” with cockroach issues and open foodstuff remaining in the structure.

“This property could potentially be salvageable and rehabilitated very easily down the road,” he said. “The property remains unchanged since 2022. It really, it would be a marketable property.”

Committee member Maurice Cashman asked if the city had tried to contact the government regarding the property.

Randy Rossey, city director of codes and planning, said they had. The government did not respond, which he called “not unusual.” He outlined that the “end game” for the city’s involvement is focused on the next owner.

“If we don’t have that declaration of blight in place, it makes it much more difficult to deal with a new owner,” he said.

The commission approved that declaration as well as a first declaration against the property at 707 W. Fifth Ave.

That property, Taylor said, came to the city’s attention in the wake of neighbor complaints.

He noted that utilities are off and that the grass had been two feet high – sparking snake and skunk complaints – but has since been cut by the owner.

“The house has not been maintained for many years,” he said, citing rotting siding in multiple places.