Latrobe condemns 2 Ligonier Street rental properties

Latrobe officials have condemned two renter-occupied houses on Ligonier Street they say pose a health and safety hazard.

City code enforcement officer Dan Weimer said Tuesday he’d learned that occupants of two apartments at 1207 Ligonier St. and of a three-story home at 1522 Ligonier St. have made arrangements to move elsewhere by the May 3 deadline to vacate the properties.

The house at 1207 Ligonier is attached to a one-story chiropractic office belonging to Donald Paxton of Unity, who owns both of the condemned sites.

Weimer said both properties are “creating a serious hazard to the health and safety of the occupants and the public at large.”

According to condemnation notices issued on April 16, inspections conducted on April 8 and 11 at 1207 Ligonier and on Nov. 1 at 1522 Ligonier uncovered exterior and interior problems with the buildings that must be remedied before they can be occupied again.

At each property, the city is calling for Paxton to restore sanitation facilities and to eliminate unsanitary conditions and any vermin infestation.

Weimer said dog feces were littering the backyard during the inspection at 1522 Ligonier.

He said natural gas and water service had been shut off at 1207 Ligonier, where an interior water break had occurred some months ago. “The tenants were using bottled water,” he said.

Paxton, 84, told TribLive he had taken steps to have utilities restored and was interested in selling both properties. He didn’t indicate whether he intends to appeal the condemnation notices within the 14-day window set by the city.

It wasn’t clear when the chiropractic office last had been in use. Paxton said he’d recently been in ill health.

Streame Chrest told TribLive she, at least five other members of the household and a number of pets are in the process of relocating to a home in a rural setting from 1522 Ligonier.

“They’ve been threatening to condemn it for years,” her mother, Patricia Brungardt, said of the house.

At its Monday meeting, Latrobe Council formally appointed Craig McVicker of Jefferson Hills-based Code Enforcement Associates as an additional building code official for the city.

Supplementing services provided to the city by TKL Code Inspection Services, McVicker will be paid $125 per hour as needed and will focus on code violations at a six-story apartment building at 333 Main St.

Appeal of Main Street condemnation on hold

Tenants vacated the 333 Main St. building, with assistance from area human service organizations, after the city condemned the structure on March 8, citing bug and vermin infestation. The city directed property owner Jay Pan LLC of Export to have an exterminator treat the premises and also to upgrade security with additional lighting, a key entry to the building for tenants and their guests, 24-hour access to a property manager, and provision of keys or key codes for first responders to gain access in an emergency.

A spokesperson told TribLive that Jay Pan intended to work with a real estate agent on a plan to clear the structure of cockroaches and bedbugs. Jay Pan also filed an appeal of the condemnation on March 20, but a hearing of the case that was set for April 4 before the city code enforcement board was continued to a date to be determined.

City officials said a subsequent visit to the site revealed “additional issues that will be revealed to the property owner by way of a separate notice of condemnation.”

As of Monday, city solicitor Lee Demosky said an additional notice had yet to be issued. City officials have not revealed what other problems were discovered at the Main Street building.