DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704120148

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: FOCAL POINT 

SOURCE: John Harper 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

CARE ABOUT SUFFOLK? A CHANCE TO SHOW IT

Several months back, when the condition of an apartment building in our neighborhood seemed to be getting worse by the day, I called the property owner to find out what could be done about it.

He didn't know that so much trash was in the yard, that tenants were creating deep trenches by driving over the sidewalk on one side of the parking area instead of using the apron to the driveway and that one of the tenants' dogs was a 24-hour barker. He just never drove by that way, he said.

The message to our neighborhood, though certainly not said:

This property is simply a for-profit venture. I have no investment in the quality of your neighborhood. Any problems, call the city.

It's a message too often demonstrated by owners of rental properties in Suffolk - and probably elsewhere. And it accounts in great measure for the disdain of private homeowners for rental agents who constantly bring in tenants with no expectations except to pay the rent on time.

We all know there are legal limitations to what agents can require, but there is no prohibition against telling tenants on what day trash collections occur, that it is illegal to park on the front lawn and that they are expected to treat rental property as their homes.

And there is nothing to bar owners or agents from riding by rental properties to see that they aren't taking on slumlike qualities that degrade the whole neighborhood.

Instead of us - homeowners - versus them - agents and rental property owners and tenants - we need desperately to foster a partnership that benefits everyone. Neither renters nor agents/owners need be regarded as the enemies of private homeowners, but that is the situation that has evolved - largely because of attitudes like that of the owner I called.

Being a good neighbor - even when the owner happens to live in another area of the city - just doesn't seem too much to ask.

Experience indicates otherwise, however, and that's why the city's civic leagues and neighborhood associations are being called to action.

The hand wringing has gone on long enough, some of us believe. We must determine what can be done and insist that it get done, not necessarily by the city but through a combination of city, property owner, occupant and volunteer efforts.

The unification effort begins Thursday at 7 p.m. in the city council chambers of city hall, 411 Market St. A flyer advising of the session declares, ``If you are tired of seeing property in your neighborhood unmaintained and nothing ever being done about it, plan to attend this meeting.''

It should be a packed house, considering the number of street corner conversations, city council appearances and neighborhood discussions that take place on this topic.

The message should be clear:

We're not surrendering our neighborhoods to the uncaring. Rather than being treasured - as some old areas of other Hampton Roads cities area - the core area of Suffolk is heading downhill, and we're here to stop it.

As the flyer advises, ``Let's work toward actually getting something done about this ongoing problem'' of dilapidated houses, boarded-up structures, inoperative vehicles and parking in nondesignated areas.

Whether or not we live in neighborhoods plagued by these problems, we have an investment in preserving our city's history - and, in the long run, this is what this is all about.

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