Ms. Jeannette Ripley, Supervisor

Code Enforcement Division

City of College Park

Department of Public Services

4601-A Calvert Road

College Park, MD 20740

RE: Ridgeway Property -- 4906 Berwyn Road

Dear Ms. Ripley:

The Berwyn District Civic Association, Inc., would like to express our total frustration and displeasure with the condition of the property owned by James Ridgeway at 4906 Berwyn Road, in the heart of our neighborhood.

For at least 20 years, this property has been kept in a substandard and deteriorating condition. We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts that the City of College Park has made to try to convince Mr. Ridgeway to bring the property up to minimum standards. We can only assume that the City is as frustrated with the situation as is the neighborhood. However, we are the ones that have to live with this blight. Every day we walk past it, drive past it, and are embarrassed to have our guests see it when they come to visit us. But it is more than just an eyesore that devalues our own properties. We are forced to live with the safety hazards presented by the broken glass on the sidewalks, the health hazards presented by the rodents that live in the tall grass and weeds, and the trash that accumulates until one of us picks it up.

When we complain to our elected officials and ask why this situation has been allowed to endure for so long, we are told about the City’s failed efforts to adjudicate the matter in Court. We believe the Court needs to understand the community’s high degree of interest in having that property cleaned up, once and for all. Why, year after year, is Mr. Ridgeway allowed to blatantly violate City and County codes and ordinances? We don’t believe he would want to live next to such a property, and wonder why he believes that we should wish to?

Attached to this letter is a list of the current violations at the property and pictures showing the conditions. We will be happy to accompany City staff to any upcoming Court hearings regarding this situation. Perhaps working together, we can finally bring a halt to Mr. Ridgeway’s exploitation of our neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Timothy Triplett, President Harry Pitt, Chairperson

Berwyn District Civic Association, Inc. Neighborhood Preservation Task Force

Cc: Council member Thomas Hendershot

Mayor Stephen Brayman

Conditions Found at the Ridgeway Property

4906 Berwyn Road

June 6, 2004

• Numerous broken windows and broken glass on porch and sidewalks
• Rotted-out wood siding and areas completely void of siding on the east and west (49th Ave.) sides of building
• Entire building has never had finished coat of paint: only a primer applied
• Porch ceiling has never been painted (raw wood) and has about 3 linear feet of aluminum soffit applied (never completed)
• No rear steps or protective rail to back door on East side of building
• All basement stairwells on 3 sides of building either have missing rails or such that do NOT meet code (minimum spacing of 4") which presents a serious safety hazard as someone could easily fall into areaway from rear driveway or 49th Ave. side.
• Unfinished porch roof overhang on 49th Ave side of building
• Numerous amounts of trash in all stairwells
• Gutters and downspouts have been removed and not replaced
• Rear fence on East side has been broken down and remains unrepaired or removed.
• Uncut grass (weeds) in excess of 4' tall
• Birds nesting inside the building (observed flying in and out) and rodents on the property