YORK, Pa. - Residents in a neighborhood are worried about an abandoned row house that is threatening the structural integrity of the whole building.
It does not take much to identify the blighted property on East Wallace Street in York. Resident Shannon Foraker has lived next door and has complained to the city multiple times.
“I want my children to have a safe place to live,” Foraker said.
Foraker’s boyfriend purchased the home in 2006, and she says a year later, the row house next door began to fall into disrepair.
The city installed wooden beams in 2007 to brace the front façade of the building, adding more beams over the years, Foraker said. There is overgrowth from weeds in the backyard. Foraker says she has begun to notice cracks in the interior walls of her home, and fears the building could collapse.
“I'm afraid it's going to fall, or it's going to affect my house,” Foraker said. “Walls, cracks, we've tried, I mean, we've done what we had to do, but it's not helping anymore.”
In addition to the big hit in property value, residents have to zig-zag their way down the street because the beams block the sidewalk. Parking is another issue.
“If I park too close to the curb, they give me a ticket, but if I park up further, then I can't get out of my car,” she said. “I'm afraid to get a ticket every time I park in front of my house.”
The city told Foraker it's still trying to purchase the property through having it condemned. It did not respond to Fox 43's requests for comment. Even then, Foraker says she's heard that for years, and is ready to leave.
“I live in the city, I pay my taxes in the city, and finally I'm not living in the city anymore [sic],” she said. “I'm out of here in the next couple of months. I'm gone. I can't do it.”