The property located at 214 N. Ft. Wayne St.

WARSAW — A local landlord is facing code violations on three separate apartment buildings within the Warsaw city limits. The landlord attended the code enforcement hearing held today, Sept. 18.

Ralph Fitch, Larwill, owns the properties located at 214 N. Ft. Wayne St., 500 Chinworth Court and 1503 Green Hill Drive. All of these properties are set up as apartment buildings, but Fitch stated that only two tenants live in all the buildings, one in the Ft. Wayne residence and one in the Chinworth residence.

Warsaw Building Commissioner Ray Behling stated that each of these buildings is in a state of deterioration. The city received a complaint from a tenant about the condition of the Ft. Wayne Street property. City employees were allowed inside the empty apartment unit. They stated they found a deteriorating roof and porch on the outside of the property. Inside the property, the found broken glass, trash and electrical issues.

The Chinworth property also has electrical issues and general deterioration. The Green Hill property has rotted sections and overgrowth on the roof. City employees have not been inside either of these buildings recently to get a full picture of the issues.

Fitch was present at the hearing and asked for time to complete the repairs. “I need a little bit of time to do it … give me a month and see what I can get done.”

Behling noted that when he visited the property, Fitch asked for six months to complete the repairs. At that point, Behling requested a written timeline of the repairs. No timeline or schedule of repairs has been presented.

“Tell us what you’re going to do,” stated Behling. “We need something from you that gives a timeline so it doesn’t drag on for two years.”

Hearing Officer Tom Earhart continued the property to the next hearing on Oct. 30. He warned of potential demolition and told Fitch, “I better be impressed by how much you’ve got done.”

Earhart imposed a fine and referred a problem property to the Kosciusko Court system after little to no improvement has been made since the last hearing.

The property located at 1015 E. Main St., owned by Jason and Bobby Wade has large amounts of trash outside the residence. While some of the trash has moved locations, there is still a large amount of trash behind the residence and the garage. A temporary fence that was put up to hide the trash has since fallen.

Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt noted that he has not been allowed on the property but has continued to take pictures from the public right-of-way. He also noted that no permanent fence has been put up despite Jason Wade claiming he was going to and a permit being issued. The city continues to receive phone call complaints about the property.

Hewitt further noted that it appears Bobby Wade has moved his scrapping business to a nearby residence. That residence accumulated a lot of trash right after a lot of trash left the Main Street residence. This property will appear at the next code hearing to address those issues.

Earhart noted that the couple was not present at the hearing and has failed to show any progress. He imposed a $100 fine for every day since the last code hearing, totaling a $2,600 fine. He ordered the case to be heard by the Kosciusko Court for ongoing civil proceedings.

In other news:

• Work is continuing at the 519 N. Park Ave., property owned by Faviola Duran. Behling has a meeting with the contractor in October to check up on progress. The property was continued until the Oct. 30 hearing.
• Work is almost complete at 3521 Lake City Highway, owned by Hari Om. Inc. Owners are finishing painting the north end of the building then all the work will be completed. The property was continued until the Oct. 30 hearing.
• Stephen Moore, owner of 1422 E. Main St., continues the process to return his home to the lender. During this period he is keeping up with outside maintenance of the building. The property was continued until the Oct. 30 hearing.
• Brad Eberly is facing contempt charges after failing to clean up his property at 1627 Fisher Ave., as ordered by a judge. He will appear in court on Oct. 5.
• The owner of the old car wash at 2516 E. Center Street has hired a demolition contractor. A start date for the demolition has not been received yet. The property was continued until the Oct. 30 hearing.
• The property at 600 N. Lake Street had a hearing regarding trash on the property. The apartment is owned by Sherri Shafer but tenant Mitchell Dawson admitted the trash was his due to a scrapping business. Dawson has cleaned up the property and promised to no longer scrap there. This property was dismissed.
• Adessa Williams continues to clean up his property at 2119 Hendricks Street. Sufficient progress has been made and the property was continued until the Oct. 30 hearing.