BANGOR, Maine — A Bangor woman says she fears letting her children play in her own yard because of a nearby abandoned residence that attracts drug activity and trespassers to her neighborhood.
Shannon Denbow lives adjacent to the vacant structure at 308 Hammond St. The apartment building was placarded by the city in 2012 for being “unfit for human habitation,” according to Code Enforcement Officer Jeremy Martin.
Over the years, Denbow says she’s reported suspected drug activity at the residence at least five times. She contacted police again about two weeks ago to report overhearing kids at the residency arguing about whether to start a fire.
“It’s never been a nice neighbor,” said Denbow, who has two children, ages 8 and 14.
While the house has been boarded up, Denbow says trespassers and squatters have gained access to the building in recent years. While she has reported the problem to the city, she said this week that nothing has been done to close the building.
“How hard can it be to find who is responsible … and board it up?” she asked.
An inspection of the building’s exterior showed at least one door was pried open and that boarded windows were marked with graffiti. A fence in the rear of the structure was collapsed with yard debris and litter scattered about it.
But city officials are aware of the problem and are working to correct it. According to city records, a complaint was received about the building on Sept. 4, and the problem has been referred to public works to secure the vacant building.
It was not immediately clear when that would occur. Martin said during a town hall meeting last week that city officials try to deal with property complaints as quickly as possible, but due to limited staff and time, they are forced to triage complaints, dealing with health and safety issues first.
The building at 308 Hammond St. is one of 151 buildings citywide that are registered as vacant. Martin said the structure was only recently cleared from a foreclosure dispute and that it now belongs to Wells Fargo & Co.
Now that the building is cleared from foreclosure, Martin said he expects the bank will attempt to sell the building. It appears to be in good enough condition to warrant rehabilitation as opposed to demolition, he said.
While the city continues to work on 308 Hammond St., it has had recent success getting other structures demolished.
According to city officials, the city will demolish this fall a vacant house at 44 Patten St. that was gutted by fire in 2013. The property’s owner opposed that demolition, claiming at a city council meeting he was not properly notified.
The owner did not appeal the council decision to superior court before the 30-day time limit expired, according to Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas.
The city also successfully pushed multiple banks to demolish a vacant house at 82 Smith St. last week. Martin said the city would have used the state’s dangerous building law to order the structure’s demolition and lien the banks for the cost had the banks not undertaken the demolition themselves.
Martin advised last week that there may still be vacant properties the city does not know about and that concerned residents can report them via the city’s Go-Bangor mobile app or to code enforcement at 992-4230.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.