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The Edge was condemned
by Mountain Girl ~ February 25th, 2008. Filed under: Community, Development, Infrastructure.
Concerned Mt. Washington residents have been on a mission to condemn the eyesore that is The Edge on Grandview Avenue and it looks as if their efforts have paid off. Kudos to the 11-member committee who worked with Councilman Dan Deasy and Rick Weaver of the Bureau of Building Inspection to get this accomplished.
The question is…what now? According to a Tribune-Review article, the owner of the property is preparing to repair The Edge’s “deteriorated mortar, broken windows, and rotted wooden decks…”. I wonder though, if the building had not been condemned, how many repairs would have been made. And will these repairs even scratch the surface?
Pictured from left: Mt. Washington community advocates, Jill Nolan, Diane Delmer, and Gloria Ostermeyer (James Knox/Tribune-Review)
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
It’s not a secret that I HATE THE EDGE. Not the land, but the rock pile that sits on top it. It is a hazard to the community and an embarrassment for the city of Pittsburgh.
The Edge has been vacant since 1979 and he (Mr. Hurite)thinks he can fix it up!!??. Hurite is just pandering and trying to stall the inevitable. He says that someone is interested in buying it. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA good one Hurite, good one.
He wants the city to pay for the demolition, it’s very obvious.
Mr. Hurite, I ask you this. When is the last time you’ve even been to this property? I would love to know the last time you even stepped foot into this death trap.
There is no way this monstrosity can be saved. TEAR IT DOWN!
We, as a community, cannot let this issue die. Stop by the CDC office and make sure you sign the petition.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Do you think Mr. Hurite would like it if a property like THE EDGE was located in the heart of Fox Chapel?
Nope, out of site, out of mind. He would do exactly what we are doing here in the 15211, so if anyone hears any complaining coming from his side, let us know. We want to put his ever excuse out to the public.
The great thing is, there is NO EXCUSE for this trash heap to be allowed to remain on our beautiful mountainside.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:41 am
15211advocate, I agree 100%. The building code violations are the responsibility Mr. Hurite. Since it is clear that he has taken a non-responsive position on the matter, the Director of Public Safety can “charge the cost of abatement on the infractions to the property owner in the form of a lien against the property.”
Nuisance and Vacant Properties – City Council Bills 2004-0044 and 2007-1112 Recent discussions in Pittsburgh City Council over building code enforcement have brought attention to a bill passed by Council in 2005. This piece of legislation amended the Pittsburgh Municipal Code to add a chapter that creates a ‘Nuisance Property’ designation. Under this law, a property can be declared a ‘nuisance property’ if the unit has been cited for infractions 3 or more times within a 60 day period. Qualified infractions include: Building code violations Noise violations Weeds and grass violations Number of pets violations Any summary offense, misdemeanor or felony Under the Director of Public Safety, owners of designated nuisance properties are notified and must submit an abatement plan for said nuisances. In the event the property owner is non-responsive or fails to abate said nuisance, the Director of Public Safety has the authority to charge the cost of abatement on the infractions to the property owner in the form of a lien against the property. On 1/26/07, a bill sponsored by Council members Bodack, Deasy and Harris would amend the prior bill to include a designation for ‘Vacant Properties’ in addition to ‘Nuisance Properties’. The penalties would be the same for both. Council will be scheduling a televised post-agenda hearing to discuss enforcement of the nuisance property ordinance and obstacles in the court system.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:04 am
In honor of Myron Cope it would be a nice gesture of the “good doctor” to cover the Edge property with a very large Terrible Towel!!
February 27th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I think what these three ladies did was very courageous and it is about time that someone stood up against this disgrace. to all involved, keep up the good work.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Two things.
First, I saw four kids (probably ages 8-12) climbing around on the Edge property yesterday. When they saw me watching them they ran away. I doubt that this is an isolated incident. It is hard to blame the kids, I would probably explore the property too when I was their age. The problem I have is this: This property should be knocked down. It is a major eyesore and obviously the owner is just going to sit on it as long as he can. What if one of these kids falls off of the building and gets injured or even killed? At the very least - the property should be secured so that nobody can enter that dump.
Second, Some tagger named “fade…” has painted every single garbage can on grandview ave. Now every visitor to grandview ave has to look at that crap. Great first impression. Wow, look at that nasty old building with little kids climbing all over it. And hey look over here, there is graffiti on every garbage can. What a nice place this is.
I am watching.
and if/when I catch this graffiti “artist” “fade…”, They are going to wish they never saw a can of spray paint in their life. I can guarantee you that.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Anyone out there that sees activity of any kind at the Edge property is to call 911. We were told this by the Bureau of Building Inspection and Bob Kelly who works for the “good doctor”. His phone number is 412/683-7300. The doctor feels Mt. Washington should watch over it for him. If people are still getting in to his building (Bob claims its boarding up real good now) BBI will cite the owner… BBI phone number 412/255-2179 Dan Cipriani.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:13 am
“Fade” has also tagged the wall at the end of the bridge on McArdle Roadway. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a “beat” cop walking Grandview Avenue.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I love the idea of a beat cop walking Grandview…
March 20th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Just spoke to Patty Chavez (Graffitti Busters) she will have the garbage cans painted on Grandview Avenue next week. (if the weather warms up) Her e-mail. patty.chavez@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
March 20th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Diane:
Many, many thanks to you for doing this. It’s one thing to discuss all of these issues on a blog and it’s quite another to take the initiative to do something about them (as I know a lot of 15211.org readers do).
MG
March 21st, 2008 at 6:40 am
Hey Graffiti is not art, love the name!
I always tell people there’s a difference between art and vandalism
March 28th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I’ve got to point out the great work of Pittsburgh Graffiti Busters. Diane contacted Patty Chavez and others called 311 — within days they were up here painting. Now every trash can on Grandview looks nice and our visitors don’t have to look at the criminal chicken scratch of these losers. Great work PGB!
By the way. Check out this web site. http://www.graffnews.com/?cat=23
The ignorance is astounding.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Well, It lasted about three days. Some taggers hit a couple of the newly painted cans on Grandview. I will continue to contact 311 each time this happens. It would be great if some of the other 15211 readers would do the same. If the city would supply the correct paint and allow us to - I would be happy to paint over the graffiti each time is appears. Is this possible? Someone posted that they thought it was against the law. Is this true?
This loser has to live up here somewhere. Eventually, he will be caught.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Graffiti is not art:
Thank you for your diligence! We need more citizens like you…. please don’t get discouraged. You are making a huge difference in our neighborhood and I for one appreciate your efforts! I’ll call also and report the graffiti on Grandview. Keep up the good work!
Kim
March 31st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Unfortunately the city only has a few graffitti busters trucks so you can imagine them trying to keep up with all the tagging throughout the city. The city would prefer that the trashcans stay all the same color but its not against the law for you to paint them. There is no way they would supply the paint, you would be taking away someones job, you know, union stuff. We’ve just tried to match the color and painted them ourselves. Now the mailboxes are a differant story, that is against the law, but we hate looking at the tagging, so we match the boxes as best we can. Just don’t report us please!!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
That was you Grandview Gal? Nice work. I was giving all the credit to the graffiti busters. If you ever need some help painting, just post it on here. Thanks!
March 31st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Graffiti is not art, Sorry I confused you. Graffitti Busters gets all the credit for the painting of the trash cans on Grandview. I just meant some of the trash cans are taken care of where I live by volunteers. Sometimes the city just takes too long to get to it all. So we do it ourselves.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
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