19991012 City aims to clean up Pa Ave By Kevin Griffis Carroll County Times Staff Writer

First published Tuesday, October 12, 1999

City aims to clean up Pa. Avenue

Westminster fines landlord; actions against drug trade to continue

By KEVIN GRIFFIS Carroll County Times Staff Writer

The city of Westminster fined a Pennsylvania Avenue landlord $2,000 Monday for failing to vacate and secure his property - a move Mayor Kenneth A. Yowan described as ``just the beginning'' to force landlords to evict known drug sellers.

Yowan said the city will also look to notify the mortgage companies that hold the properties' mortgages and file civil suits against landlords who fail to do anything about tenants who are known drug suppliers.

The city has continued to apply police pressure to the area, instituting foot patrols, and, on Thursday, raiding a 73 Pennsylvania Ave. apartment that Westminster Police Chief Roger Joneckis said was a hangout for crack cocaine users and sellers.

Joneckis said his department has more initiatives planned for the area but could not yet elaborate.

But the city and the police force can only do so much to control the drug problem and crime along Pennsylvania Avenue, Yowan said at Monday night's City Council meeting. The city needs the cooperation of neighborhood landlords.

``Unfortunately, we have run into problems with five or six landlords, whose properties harbor persons involved in repeated drug activities but who don't seem to want to cooperate with the city and other property owners,'' Yowan said, reading from a prepared statement.

``Rather, they just want to sit back, collect their money and turn a blind eye to problems with their properties.''

The owner of 22-24 Pennsylvania Ave. is the first landlord to draw a fine from the city in its push to improve the neighborhood.

Yowan suggested the man's inaction, and similar responses the city has received from other landlords, was not fair to the neighborhood or to the city's taxpayers.

``It is time for them to seriously consider being part of the solution instead of part of the problem, and the sooner the better for them,'' Yowan said.

The landlord, Robert Foster, could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Yowan also announced the date of a clean-up of Pennsylvania Avenue.

The scheduled date is Oct. 30, and the city's public works personnel and equipment will be out to work on the road and its alleyways with neighbors, he said. People who want to participate are asked to meet at 8 a.m. at Vince's Seafood, at the corner of West Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, to organize, Yowan said.

Joneckis said his department has been in contact with area businesses and plans to ask Western Maryland College fraternities and sororities to aid in the clean-up.

In other business Monday night:

The City Council designated Sunday, Oct. 31, from dusk until 8 p.m., as the night for children to go trick-or-treating in the city.

The council asks that children wear light-colored clothing and only go to homes with a porch light on.