NANTICOKE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Blight is nothing new in our area, but one property in a Luzerne County neighborhood is causing some serious issues, and resolving them is now at a standstill.
Hidden behind trees, branches, and vines sits an abandoned property on Honey Pot Street in Nanticoke.
The neighbors, forced to watch as it gets worse, say they have tried multiple times to get in contact with the city, but a problem with the owner is what's getting in the way.
"The difficulty we have is trying to get it cleaned up. There's no contact for this LLC, if you mail a letter to the address, you get no response from it," explained Nanticoke Code Enforcement Officer Jonathan Lang.
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The home has been abandoned for fourteen years, only to become home to rats, raccoons, and snakes that are creating problems in nearby yards. One neighbor says he would like the property to stop affecting his own.
"At least if someone can have something, have vector control come out and at least abate the property just to get rid of it because it's a problem all throughout the neighborhood, and it's ruining everybody's property values," said Nanticoke resident Chester Kopco.
Just one step in the right direction would be enough for him, and he says more needs to be done about blighted properties everywhere.
"Either with code enforcement or somebody just to check up on these properties because I'm sure I'm not the only one in Nanticoke, or residents here, we're not the only ones that are dealing with this problem, this is ongoing," said Kopco.
Another frustrated neighbor tells us he's been filing a complaint once a week, and previously wanted to buy the property just to clean it up, but he might be waiting for a while.
"You know, we're trying to work on it, doing what we can, but something needs to change with the state laws so that we have access to the actual owners of these LLCs," said Lang.
The neighbors say they plan to keep filing complaints and working until something can be done.
Code enforcement tells 28/22 News they will keep working on this situation as well.
