Lynn council wants to raze triple-decker

LYNN – A Mariana Street property owner is already facing arrest over the deplorable condition of a triple decker, and now the Lynn City Council wants to demolish it.”The house is such a disgrace,” said Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr. “If you go in, the condition is so deplorable. There is raw sewage and lighting that doesn’t work.”The front doors of the cream-colored home sport bright orange stickers that read “uninhabitable,” but there are hints that there are still tenants. Knocks on the locked door went unanswered Thursday, but voices could be heard behind the metal door of one apartment and knickknacks still cluttered the windowsill of another.Cyr said Tuesday he believes people are still living in the place, despite the fact it’s been condemned.”I feel badly for the people living there,” he said. “I imagine they’re being taken advantage of; I don’t think they know their rights.”The owners of the property are not strangers to city officials. Cyr said they seem to dodge any major trouble by transferring the home into various family members’ names.According to court papers Helen Doss, reportedly from Utica, N.Y., is the current homeowner. She came under fire last month after the city followed up on a complaint regarding the property and found raw sewage in the basement mixed with “excessive rodent feces.”They also found the electrical service cable dangling from the buildings, exposed and hanging wires, and deteriorating walls, ceilings and other building components.What the inspectors didn’t find, according to the report dated Oct. 17, were occupancy permits, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, working heat, or a chimney flue. No flue pipes leaves the basement open to deadly carbon monoxide gas.Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan said it will take about four to five months to work through the details before the house is actually demolished.He said he first needs to gain entry so a hazardous material study can be done. The one-day study is to check for asbestos, oil in the basement, lead paint and anything else that might have to be remediated, he said. If the owners fail to grant entry he will be forced to take Doss to court, which will slow the process.”Next we’d put together a demo package for bidding,” he said.That would take four to five weeks. If it’s successful, the City Council would have to approve a transfer to pay for the demolition and then the building could come down, Donovan said.If there are people still living in the home, however, Donovan said that means they would have to be evicted, “which obviously would hold up the entire process.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].