Medina residents express concern about deteriorating neighborhoods, blighted buildings

Photo by Tom Rivers: This three-story Medina sandstone structure at 613 Main St. was badly damaged in a fire on April 7. The building owner has been cited by the village which doesn’t want it too linger in the current condition.

MEDINA – Several village residents told the Village Board on Monday they are concerned about a decline in neighborhoods as well as two large commercial buildings that are badly damaged, one from neglect and another from a fire.

“We used to be one of the most beautiful villages and now we’re at the bottom,” said resident John Parada. “We need to clean up so village looks better.”

Parada urged the village to send up more letters from code enforcement for property maintenance. He asked for a breakdown of how many letters are sent out in recent months.

The board said it would try to have that information available at an upcoming meeting.

Parada reiterated concerns shared by Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency. She urged the board to focus on the gateways leading into the village, where many homes need repair, fresh paint, and porches cleaned of debris. She said unkempt properties hurt efforts to bring in new businesses.

Village Trustee Jess Marciano agreed with several of the speakers, who are concerned about deteriorating properties.

“You’re not wrong,” she said. “That’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Village attorney Matt Brooks said citing people and imposing fines isn’t always the answer. Some people don’t have the money to make repairs or paint their houses. They may be elderly or encountered some misfortune, he said.

“It’s the old saying, it’s very hard to get blood from a stone,” he said. “People are often going through something hard.”

Community volunteers sometimes step up to help a neighbor overwhelmed by the task or short on funds, Brooks and residents noted.

Scott Carlton said village property owners face high property taxes, and are seeing neighborhoods slip into greater decay.

The village needs to reduce its taxes so people have more money for property upkeep, he said.

“It’s a vicious circle with the taxes being so high,” he said. “You have got to do something with taxes. It all falls to the homeowner. There are no big businesses, and when we get them, we give them a break.”

The village is looking to pursue a brownfields grant and also Restore New York grant that could help with some blighted buildings.

The board is concerned, in particular, with 613 Main St., which was badly damaged in a fire on April 7. The property is fenced off, but the board wants to see it either stabilized or a plan for a removal. The village has cited the owner, Jeff Fuller, and there will be a court appearance on March 25 to see if Fuller has action steps for the building.

The village also frets about a former large manufacturing site on East Avenue that has been vacant and a target of vandals in recent years. There have been several small fires in recent years at the three-story building at 525 East Avenue. This 70,600-square-foot building was previously used by the S.A. Cook Furniture Factory.

The property has been sold multiple times through the property tax auction, including in 2016 when it only fetched $100.

A more recent owner – Open the Windows of Heaven, Apostolic Ministry – doesn’t have insurance on the building. The church group also doesn’t have the resources to make extensive repairs or to demo the site.

Brooks, the village attorney, described the site as “a disaster” with no deep pockets to fix or demolish it.

The village six years ago instituted a vacant property registry, and Brooks said that has been successful in utilizing empty homes and buildings. The registry has reduced the vacant sites from about 80 to near 40.

The property owners pay a fee to be on the registry and then annual charges if the buildings remain unoccupied.