Comments on: On the agenda for the city council http://www.berkeleyside.com/2009/10/27/on-the-agenda-for-the-city-council/ News and notes on our city Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:51:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: “About that tree” — the looming blight crisis – Berkeleyside http://www.berkeleyside.com/2009/10/27/on-the-agenda-for-the-city-council/comment-page-1/#comment-194 “About that tree” — the looming blight crisis – Berkeleyside Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:36:39 +0000 http://www.berkeleyside.com/?p=390#comment-194 [...] In earlier comments on Berkeleyside I kvetched a bit about a diseased and fallen tree in a seemingly neglected foreclosure property next to my apartment. The fallen crown of that tree contains much dry wood and seems to me to present a fire hazard, yet nobody is around to step up and remove it. Additionally, parts of the dead tree still stand and threaten to similarly fall on some adjoining fences. Another Berkeleyside reader rightly suggested, in lieu of my frustration getting the City to pay attention to the issue, calling my council-member’s office. This is an update on how that is going. [...] [...] In earlier comments on Berkeleyside I kvetched a bit about a diseased and fallen tree in a seemingly neglected foreclosure property next to my apartment. The fallen crown of that tree contains much dry wood and seems to me to present a fire hazard, yet nobody is around to step up and remove it. Additionally, parts of the dead tree still stand and threaten to similarly fall on some adjoining fences. Another Berkeleyside reader rightly suggested, in lieu of my frustration getting the City to pay attention to the issue, calling my council-member’s office. This is an update on how that is going. [...]

]]> By: Thomas Lord http://www.berkeleyside.com/2009/10/27/on-the-agenda-for-the-city-council/comment-page-1/#comment-68 Thomas Lord Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:48:39 +0000 http://www.berkeleyside.com/?p=390#comment-68 This gets me thinking of better things that City Council could be working on aside from mis-representing the population with ineffectual statements about world affairs. And that brings to mind an issue that maybe some other reader has experience with: There are a heck of a lot of unoccupied, neglected properties around my neighborhood in West Berkeley. Some are empty, forclosed places. One is an 8(?) unit condo that was never even completed - just boarded up after most but not all construction was completed. One of the foreclosure homes recently had a tree fall down in its back yard. The tree is diseased and so the crown, which is now on the ground, contains a lot of dry wood - a bonfire waiting to go off. I've called the City a few times about this and have yet to get more than a promise someone will call me back in a few days (which doesn't happen). Who can I get in touch with to see to it that the City ensures the hazard is removed and dings the bank which owns yet neglects the place? (Or, should I fix it myself and in exchange take adverse possession of the house in question? Has any reader ever obtained ownership of a Berkeley property by that means?) -t This gets me thinking of better things that City Council could be working on aside from mis-representing the population with ineffectual statements about world affairs.

And that brings to mind an issue that maybe some other reader has experience with:

There are a heck of a lot of unoccupied, neglected properties around my neighborhood in West Berkeley. Some are empty, forclosed places. One is an 8(?) unit condo that was never even completed – just boarded up after most but not all construction was completed.

One of the foreclosure homes recently had a tree fall down in its back yard. The tree is diseased and so the crown, which is now on the ground, contains a lot of dry wood – a bonfire waiting to go off.

I’ve called the City a few times about this and have yet to get more than a promise someone will call me back in a few days (which doesn’t happen).

Who can I get in touch with to see to it that the City ensures the hazard is removed and dings the bank which owns yet neglects the place?

(Or, should I fix it myself and in exchange take adverse possession of the house in question? Has any reader ever obtained ownership of a Berkeley property by that means?)

-t

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