GLOUCESTER CITY: Maintenance Problems at Chatham Square have Existed for Years
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Bill's Point of View:
Date: November 7,
2006 (ClearysNoteBook)-Chatham Square Apartments 
home to 100 residential units,
located on Rte. 130 and Klemm Avenue has been fined $96,000, plus $17,000 per
day until the violations are corrected, for numerous housing violations by the
Gloucester City Municipal Court. The Municipal Court issued its decision on
October 24, 2006.
The
court action is the result of the ongoing efforts of the newly formed Property
Maintenance Task Force, which involves representatives from the Fire, Police
and Housing Departments who meet regularly to formally coordinate enforcement
of housing regulations throughout the City. The City Housing Department
cited Chatham Square Apartments in violation of various housing issues,
primarily dealing with conditions of common areas, failure to obtain
certificates of occupancy, interior life hazard issues and code enforcement
violations, to name a few. The Housing Department and the Municipal Court
is continuing to monitor the complex for full compliance with the violations.
The
most important characteristic of our City is its strong family of
neighborhoods,â said Mayor âTutâ Kilcourse. âIt is the Cityâs top
priority to maintain and improve all housing conditions within the City.â
December
05, 2007 (ClearysNoteBook) - At
last Thursday council meeting a resolution (R276) was passed to allow the City
of Gloucester City to enter in to Agreements for the Sale of the Properties
known as Chatham Square and Gloucester Terrace. According to Councilman Marchese
if an agreement is reached to purchase the property, the apartments would be
demolished and single family homes would be built. Both he and Mayor James said
that this idea is in the early planning stages.
Chatham Square is located on Rt. 130 and Klemm Avenue in the area where Beazer Construction Company has built 64 new homes.
Some
figures to ponder. According to TReND, who compiles property records for realtors,
Chatham Square was purchased in 1976 for $1,131,800. In 1998 the selling price for the property was
$1,450,000, and in 2002 the purchase price was $2,800,000. The City paid $4.1
million giving the seller a $1.3 million profit.
According to the August 17th Courier Post, the mayor,
said the city plans to have a new, on-site maintenance manager in place. The
city also expects "to consolidate everybody into two or three buildings so
they're not in scattered sites," James said.
Whether
the city could sell the land for commercial redevelopment, James said that's
not a possibility right now, at least in the short term. Nor does the city plan
to increase the rent, he said. SEE ARTICLE
Costs for this latest scenario Mayor and Council is following
can only end up increasing our taxes. Originally the plans called for demolishing
the apartments and putting up single family homes. I still believe that is the
best idea.
However the majority of the populace elected these individuals to do what they think is best for the community. If I was in charge I would have spent the $4 million buying up the 1200 rental properties that are spread out throughout the City. Fix those up and sell each as single family homes. But that is me, and I am not in charge. So like everyone else Iâll just have to sit back and watch what becomes of this blunder. Hopefully they prove those who are against this course of action all wrong.
~Bill Cleary
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