New Kensington Council declares 6 houses unsafe, orders demolitions

Four dilapidated houses in one New Kensington neighborhood are among the latest six the city is working to tear down.

Three of the four houses are on Ross Avenue at 717, 1100 and 1150. The fourth is nearby at 1330 Forest Ave.

All four are in the area above the former Rite Aid on Stevenson Boulevard and bounded by Seventh Street and Powers Drive.

The others are a fire-damaged house at 1134 Seventh St. and a house at 421 Earl Ave.

During a public hearing Monday, city council voted to declare each of the six structures as unsafe and ordered their demolition. Solicitor Anthony Vigilante was authorized to file liens with the county for costs and expenses.

The owners of the properties can appeal within 30 days.

The Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority began seeking bids Tuesday, City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. Bids are due by June 21 and will be opened that day.

The authority board could vote to award a contract at its June 25 meeting, said Brian Lawrence, authority executive director. The demolitions are expected to be done this year.

The city has received complaints about squatters at 717 Ross Ave., which city code enforcement officer Pat McGrath said is not secured. It has broken windows and a partially collapsed roof. The water has not been on at the house since November 2013.

The owner, Bryaunt Williams, was the only owner of the six houses to appear at the hearing. He has owned 717 Ross since December 2020.

Williams said he had been working on selling the property but did not have a written sales agreement. Williams, a contractor, claimed that while the roof is caving in, the base structure is solid.

“I was trying to get rid of it through that sale, but I haven’t heard anything back, and the sale was supposed to be within a couple months,” he said. “I was just trying to dump it off because I knew that I couldn’t get to it.”

Christopher Harvey, who lives next to 1330 Forest Ave., asked how he could get the property. McGrath said the city does not own it, and both of the people on the title are dead.

Officials said it will take some time for the property to make its way through the system until Harvey can attempt to buy it, such as at a county repository sale.

Council already had found the house at 1134 Seventh St. to be unsafe and ordered its demolition in 2021. The building was gutted by fire in 2019.

Because of the time that has passed, it was put through the process again in case there had been any changes in its ownership, McGrath said.

A federal lien could delay the demolition of the house at 421 Earl Ave.

The owner, Andrew Ziacik, pleaded guilty in June 2021 to misappropriation of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiary funds. He stole more than $130,000 of his older brother’s veterans benefits to buy luxury items including a diamond ring, a GMC Sierra pickup and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Ziacik was ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to his brother and a $4,000 fine.

Scarpiniti said the city will have to talk with the federal government to release the lien.