Ben Seidler pledged for more than two years that if he was elected to represent Wheeling’s Ward 2, he would do what he could to clean up vacant and occupied properties on Wheeling Island and in North Wheeling and Fulton.
This past Tuesday during Wheeling Council’s regular meeting, Seidler reported that 27 notices had been mailed to homeowners who have vehicles resting somewhere on their properties.
“It’s a touchy subject,” the councilman said. “I’m sure that some may not be happy. Others may not be alive anymore or may not live in the area anymore. I would hope folks know that it’s not personal, but the law is the law and I was elected based on a strong platform to clean up our neighborhoods.
“Regardless of the dynamics, cleaning up these vehicles will improve way more people’s lives than it will inconvenience,” he continued. “Those folks now have 30 days to remove the vehicle or make legal and park it in a legal parking spot. They can choose to dispute the issue in municipal court if they so choose, but the law is pretty clear. If the vehicles have not been made legal and moved to a legal parking spot, the city will have the vehicles towed and the owner will be responsible for paying to retrieve the car from the towing company if they so choose. If they don’t retrieve it, then the towing company has the authority to scrap the vehicle to cover their costs for towing it.”
Surprise, Surprise
Seidler opted to purchase his home on North Front Street three years ago because it was riverfront along a street that features some of the most dynamic architecture in the city of Wheeling. What the council representative did not know about, though, was the level of property maintenance adopted by nearby landlords for their rental properties.
“I didn’t have a clue about half of the issues I would experience over here to be honest,” Seidler explained. “I was overtaken by the beauty of the island. The beautiful character and architecture of the homes over here. The history behind the neighborhood. I knew there was a stigma, but I fell in love with the house and yard and the normal red flags that I should have seen just didn’t matter.
“I’ll be honest. If I fail at cleaning our neighborhoods up and restoring them to their glory, then this will have been the worst financial investment I have ever made. If I succeed, which I sure as hell will, then it will have been the best investment I have ever made for myself and my community,” he continued. “I love this place and I refuse to let it fall victim to the least common denominator any longer. There are no good excuses for this neighborhood not to be just as nice as any other neighborhood in our city, so we are just going to fix that. Together. As a community. As a team. As neighbors. As friends.”
The 27 notices that were sent via certified mail to Ward 2 property owners, Seidler said, represents the initial wave of the enforcement effort. In the end, the councilman expects many more in the coming weeks.
“I can’t speak for all wards in the city,” he said, “but I would expect no less than 60 from the neighborhoods of Wheeling Island, North Wheeling and Fulton.”
Walking the Walk
Soon after moving to Wheeling Island, Seidler made a decision to run for Wheeling Council because he became frustrated with the lack of property code enforcement. Since his victory and taking the position on July 1, the council member has worked diligently with administration members to update the municipality’s 311 request tracking system.
“The people in Ward 2 have the same right to the peaceful enjoyment of their property as those who live in other neighborhoods that don’t suffer from the same amount of blight and crime,” he insisted. “Out of the 50 properties on the city’s current demolition list, 23 of them are in Ward 2 alone.
“The other 20 are in Ward 3,” Seidler reported. “That leaves the remaining seven properties spread across the other four wards. That ratio is ridiculous, and we deserve better.”
But will the effort spread? Will council’s five other representative put forth the same level of effort to rid those wards of abandoned vehicle, too?
“This is the first time we have taken on a code enforcement effort of this magnitude to remove junked and abandoned vehicles, in as long as anyone on council can probably remember,” Seidler explained. “Some neighborhoods suffer from this problem more than others. Councilwoman (Rosemary) Ketchum of Ward 3 and I are very closely aligned on our priorities as far as putting our residents and neighborhoods first and focusing on reducing blight in our neighborhoods.
“While I certainly would not presume to speak on her behalf, I am confident that should this enforcement effort be successful, she would follow suit,” he added. “We need to be careful not to overwhelm our code enforcement department or local towing companies with an all-at-once approach as we need to consider their bandwidth to store all of the vehicles for the required timeline before they are able to scrap them. So yes, I would assume that this effort will roll out to other wards in the future.”
