DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711110288

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: NEIGHBORHOOD EXCHANGE 
TYPE: PUBLIC LIFE 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

VOLUNTEER PATROLS HELP NORFOLK AREA FIGHT BLIGHT

Satisfaction rises in Jim Tisdale's eyes as he scans a small gray house in Norfolk's Bayview neighborhood.

Several months ago, Tisdale says, this house ``was a mess'' with peeling paint, cracked windows, broken garage door and a front yard overgrown with weeds.

The problems have been remedied, thanks in part to the volunteer watchdogging of Tisdale and about a dozen other members of the Bayview Civic League's Area Preservation and Improvement Committee.

Of course, most neighborhoods don't have a Tisdale. He's a retired Norfolk property-code inspector with nearly 40 years of stories like this:

Once, he was checking a complaint about an overgrown yard. Turned out that an elderly lady was growing herbs. ``She said, `Use this for a love potion. This one is real good for fish,' '' Tisdale recalled. ``I said, `No thanks, ma'am.' I came away from there totally frustrated.''

But volunteers don't do the enforcement part of inspecting. And, says Tisdale, you don't have to be able to tell tall weeds from exotic vegetables.

You can learn by experience and with guidance from City Hall. Here's what happens in Bayview:

Every 90 days, committee members drive in pairs through Bayview to list property-code violations and other decay.

They look for broken porches, rubbish-strewn yards, junk cars parked on front lawns and moldy couches dumped outdoors. They also note damaged street signs and buckling sidewalks.

Another team of volunteers double checks the descriptions and addresses. The civic league sends the complaints to the pros in City Hall.

``The city has been real good responding,'' said Matt Steinmacher, a veteran activist. ``We're getting inspectors out here all the time. A lot of it has been cleaned up.''

The civic league is concerned that rundown houses can hurt sales values of nearby homes, and backyard junk can spread health problems, says Steinmacher, who often patrols on a bicycle.

``I even found a rat in my yard,'' he said. ``I chased it back to a house three doors from mine, and their back yard was full of brush and trash.''

Most complaints are resolved with few hard feelings, Tisdale and Steinmacher said.

Sometimes they're even thanked. ``One wife said she'd been trying to get her husband to get rid of a junk car for a year,'' Steinmacher said.

A few times, other volunteers have helped by cleaning trashy yards or repainting houses of elderly homeowners.

But then there are hardball cases and repeat violations. ``Some people,'' Steinmacher said, ``are just polluters. The only thing you can do is crack the law down on them.'' MEMO: For more information about Bayview's Area Preservation and

Improvement Committee, call Jim Tisdale, 587-6933.

Story ideas for this column? Call Mike Knepler, 446-2275. ILLUSTRATION: Jim Tisdale

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