METUCHEN — Officials may soon have another tool in their arsenal for dealing with neglected properties in the borough.
An amendment to Metuchen’s property maintenance ordinance introduced at the Aug. 18 Borough Council meeting would give the town the ability to do work on a property when an owner fails to do so, and then recoup costs through a tax lien.
“Obviously, we saw that the code needed to be strengthened, and I’m happy we can do this,” Council President Jay Muldoon said.
The need was identified at the council’s June 23 meeting, when several residents came out to express frustration with a property owner on their street.
“The house is … to a point where it’s almost unlivable,” resident Eric Floeck said of the property. “It’s been going on for years and years and years. … The house has gotten worse and worse and worse.”
Zoning Officer Chris Cosenza said at the meeting that he personally has been dealing with violations at the property since 2011, but issues there date back to 1996 in borough records. Problems at the site include overgrown grass and trees, along with falling-down gutters and other issues, he said.
“You can see birds flying in and out of the house,” he added.
Cosenza said at the time that he was preparing to issue the 11th summons to the owner. To date, close to $6,000 in fines have been levied there, he said.
“It’s in a terrible condition,” Cosenza said. “It’s probably one of two or three of the worst properties in the borough of Metuchen.”
The property owner has been picked up several times on warrants for failure to appear in court, he said.
“It’s unbelievable,” Muldoon said. “I mean, there’s safety and, I would think, health issues there.”
A neighboring resident added credence to Muldoon’s suspicions.
“I have rats that run across my property every day from that house,” said Darlene Burton, expressing anger about the ongoing state of the property. “I pay $14,000 in property taxes for rats crossing my yard? It’s unacceptable.”
Mayor Thomas Vahalla agreed, and officials set into motion the process for getting the ordinance amended.
“I think it’s going to be a help to us in making sure properties are maintained,” Vahalla said after the affirmative vote at the Aug. 18 meeting.
Cosenza explained after the meeting that the amendment would allow for the borough to get reimbursed through a property owner’s tax bill for work done on a neglected property, and if that went unpaid, the owner would be faced with a lien on the property.
“This would be used probably in very rare situations,” he said, adding that there are few properties in the borough in states of disrepair.
The second reading of the ordinance is set for Sept. 4.