ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
Roanoke's test run of its rental inspection program found violations in half of the 163 inspected units on Elm Avenue.
Inspectors also said they were surprised by the number of rooming houses on the center-city street.
Two buildings on Elm, one containing a rooming house, are being condemned as a result of the inspection program.
Landlords gave "generally good" cooperation to the inspection program, Roanoke Housing Development Coordinator Dan Pollock said in a Tuesday briefing to City Council. However, the owners of 41 units have refused to participate, and owners of 30 other units have not responded to letters.
The addresses of the condemned properties and the identities of owners who refused to participate in the program were not available from Pollock's office on Tuesday.
The city has inspected 163 of the 315 rental units - mostly apartments - on Elm Avenue. Of those sites, 65 units, or 40 percent, passed inspection; 79 units, or 48 percent, were found in violation of the city's building code; 18 units in large apartment complexes were exempted from inspection because nearby units had passed inspection, and two other buildings were condemned. Another 31 units are scheduled for inspection, and attempts are continuing to arrange inspections at 51 others.
Under the program approved by council in June, owners are being encouraged to volunteer for free inspections and to receive a "certificate of compliance" every two years. If a landlord refuses, he or she must submit to a city inspection costing $75 - and pay $35 for any needed reinspections - before the unit can be rented again.
The inspections, which eventually will cover all of Roanoke's poorest neighborhoods, began in October on the eight blocks of Elm Avenue between Jefferson Street and the Wasena bridge.
Generally, Roanoke inspects rental housing only on the complaints of tenants. The city, under pressure from neighborhood groups, set up the new program to more regularly inspect substandard rental houses and apartments near downtown.
Two new inspectors were hired last year - master electrician Joann Ellis and former Salem inspector Butch Shomaker. They, along with three longtime city inspectors and a fire marshal, used Elm Avenue as a testing ground.
The next waves of inspections are expected to begin next month along Orange Avenue Northwest between 10th and 20th Street and along Bullitt, Jamison and Dale avenues Southeast.
Pollock characterized most of Elm Avenue's violations as the "relatively minor" results of property neglect - rotting wood, leaks, peeling paint and loose bricks. But, he said, "a few, flat out, are in pretty bad condition."
Inspector Dave Hatchett said inspectors found at least four rooming houses in the eight blocks that they had thought were single-family dwellings or apartment houses. In some cases, doors were illegally secured with padlocks, he said.
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