Jerzyk: CF's Nuisance Property Task Force a great success

Central Falls officially designated the building owned by the estate of John Garant as vacant and abandoned last summer, which allows the city to tax the property at an additional 10 percent of its total value annually. The home is part of the city’s ongoing Nuisance Property Task Force list for vacant properties.

Solicitor Matt Jerzyk told The Breeze he helped start the task force as he was becoming solicitor in late 2013 under former Mayor James Diossa, raising money through a $250,000 grant from the attorney general’s office.

The mission of the Nuisance Task Force “is to address, in a holistic and systematic way, properties identified as nuisances that negatively impact our neighborhoods, the quality of housing available, and the health and life of city residents, businesses and visitors.”

It is a cross-departmental effort designed to create collaboration among officials in identifying and abating nuisance properties, which are defined as “any property that, by virtue of its physical condition, activity, or situation, poses a threat to the health, safety or welfare of the community or otherwise compromises the quality of life for nearby properties.”

The program was born out of what Jerzyk had been part of as senior counsel under Providence Mayor Angel Taveras when he served as deputy solicitor there, bringing that approach of using the law department for the public good to Central Falls.

The task force asks all member departments, from fire to police, code enforcement, tax officials and attorneys, to create files ranking properties based on a scale with the number 5 being the worst. If it ranks as a 5 with three different departments, as a risk for fire, crime and public safety, for instance, it’s going to be paid attention to first.

“We started around 90 properties,” said Jerzyk. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve probably tackled 50.”

They “built a toolbox” of sorts, he added, using steps such as taking someone to housing court or labeling a property as a non-utilization property for a 10 percent additional tax. The “heaviest hammer,” he said, is the receivership program, where the city can petition a court-appointed receiver to clear the title and auction off the property.

What’s so unique about the Central Falls model, said Jerzyk, is that they don’t just auction off the property and hope for the best, only to have a buyer flip the property or a slumlord take over, but they hold the buyer accountable to make sure they fulfill their end of the bargain.

The city has been able to really promote affordable housing, affordable housing for domestic violence victims, and Section 8 vouchers, he said. The buyers have many items they need to comply with, including hiring local Central Falls contractors and obtaining lead-safe certificates within six months, among others, as “claw-back provisions” to reacquire the property if conditions aren’t met.

“It would create a lot of leverage so we would get what we wanted,” he said.

A home at 69 Pacific St. is the perfect example of how successful the program has been, said Jerzyk. Located on an otherwise great residential block near City Hall, it was a “terrible eyesore,” he said, with vines all over it and trees growing to the roof. It was placed in receivership, and they were able to land some great investors, he said.

“All the neighbors just loved it,” he said of the change.

The city was back in housing court on various properties last month, he said, all part of an effort to target eight to 10 properties per year.

Asked about this program compared to Woonsocket’s blight reduction program, where many homes have simply been demolished with nothing replacing them, Jerzyk said there’s certainly some validity to simply tearing down a problem home.

He mentioned, as an example, 60 Fletcher St., which was a hub of criminal activity.

“Generations of families knew this house as the bad house on the street,” he said.

Another similar situation was at 2 Richardson St. at the corner of Dexter St., added Jerzyk, where there had been multiple shootings.

“It was a good idea to demolish as a signal to the community that we’re starting over,” he said.

Examples of benefits from the program over the past several years have included helping a previously homeless woman own a home for the first time and creating outdoor dining for a restaurant.

On the home at 769 Lonsdale Ave., Jerzyk said the discolored yellow look on the front of the home came about due to painting in response to previous violations for peeling paint. He said there’s some debate currently about whether someone is actually living in the home.

“If it is vacant, it’s a perfect property to be considered for receivership next month,” he said.

His next task with the property was to check this week for signs of life, he said, including electricity or mail. If those weren’t found, he said he expected attorney John Dorsey to petition for receivership.

Dorsey has also been involved in several other projects, said Jerzyk, including the large-scale Paramount Mills property, of which about 40 percent is located in Central Falls and about 60 percent in Pawtucket. He said they grew so frustrated with the owner of the property that they petitioned for receivership, and though that wasn’t granted, the judge did allow Dorsey to be appointed as special master to guide the future of the property, a level below receivership.

The city is also in that same process with the former train station at the Pawtucket/Central Falls line, noted Jerzyk.

For more on the Nuisance Property Task Force, visit www.centralfallsri.gov/legal/page/nuisance-task-force-background.