Arnold woman pleads for time to move before city tears down her home

An Arnold woman was sobbing as she asked city officials how much time she’d have to move out of her home before they tear it down.

During a board of health hearing Tuesday, Ellen Stern said she’s been looking for a place for herself, her two sons and boyfriend to live, but hasn’t found anywhere to go.

“How long do I get before I have to be totally out? It’s going to take time,” she said. “I have 20 years worth of furniture and stuff in there. What do I do?”

Stern’s house at 1605 Victoria Ave. was one of nine properties that city council was going to consider condemning and demolishing. She was the only property owner to appear.

Council took no action on Stern’s home and all but one of the eight others after finding code enforcement Officer Al Colelli was not prepared for the hearing. Colelli said he had no photos of the properties and for one, 1400 Fourth Ave., had sent notices to only one of two addresses for its owner.

Council did vote 3-0 to condemn and demolish the house at 1908 Constitution Blvd., which could be seen across the train tracks from the public safety building where the meeting was held. Councilmembers Phil McKinley and Adam Zweig were absent.

The interior of the house is in deplorable condition, Colelli said, with people having broken into it and having parties.

The six other properties are at 1717, 1931 and 1939 Woodmont Ave., 1425 Fifth Ave. and 1522 and 1631 Leishman Ave.

Stern said she intends to vacate her house, and city Solicitor Jaclyn Shaw said council was sympathetic to her circumstances. Shaw said the city has no intention of forcing her family out any sooner than it has to.

Colelli said the house is uninhabitable because it has no running water. Stern said they rent a U-Haul to bring water into the house, using it to drink, flush toilets and heating it on an electric stove for bathing.

Stern said her water bill is so high that she can’t get it turned back on. She said it’s too high for an assistance agency to help and that she can’t get on a payment plan.

“It got so far, I can’t get caught up,” she said.

“I don’t know the situation in the home,” Colelli said, “but there’s a lot of red flags from the neighbors, which my concern is the unhabitable situation if there is no water in the residence.”

Colelli said the house’s siding is in bad shape, vegetation is overgrown in the front and back, and some windows are boarded up with plywood.

He said the house looks vacant and abandoned.

Stern conceded the house looks terrible.

“If I had the money to do anything, I would,” she said.

Stern inherited the house in December 2007 following the death of her father, Henry DelGrosso, in December 2006. Her mother, Shirley, died in January 2021.

Henry DelGrosso had helped his parents, Gus and Ellen Orris DelGrosso Kidonis, run their family business, the Del-Kid restaurant in Robinson, where he later became owner until it closed in 2002. He then helped his wife with her restaurant, Shirley’s Cafe, in Arnold until June 2006.

Stern works as a mail carrier, she said during the hearing. Stern said her car had been repossessed.

According to the Westmoreland County Tax Office, Stern owes about $43,245 in unpaid city, county and school district property taxes on the house, including interest and penalties, that has accumulated since 2010. A payment plan of $50 per month was to have started in December 2017, but no payments were ever made.

When the property will go up for a tax sale was not yet known.

While Stern assumed city officials would toss her out of her home, Mayor Shannon Santucci said they will not do that.

Santucci asked if they could clean up part of the outside of the house to address the concerns of neighbors. Stern’s son, Joseph, said he could started by ripping down the vines within reach.

“Those are simple things that you can do,” Santucci said. “We can hold off, if you can at least make the outside of the house presentable.”

Colelli said he’s willing to work with the family if they take the initiative to clean up the property.

Council will reconsider Stern’s property at its next board of health meeting at 5:30 p.m. July 9. Santucci said they could then make a final determination.

Santucci said she’s OK with the family continuing to live in the house.

“The expectation that the city would have to be that you would make arrangements to vacate that premises,” Shaw said. “The city’s not going to have a choice based on the living conditions that you’re in.”

As she did several times, Stern asked how long she’d have.

Saying she has no hope of catching up on the water or tax bills, Stern said she won’t mind the city demolishing the house if she has time to find a place to go and remove her belongings.

“I intend to vacate,” she said. “I’ve been cleaning out. I’ve been taking trash out. I’ve been doing all that, because I’m going to have to vacate one way or another.”