Residents at the Glen Manor apartment in Glenolden Borough were facing the prospect of having to leave their homes due to emergency fire equipment not being up to code. But according to Borough Manager Brian Razzi, the immediate life safety issues were corrected by the property owners. Now Glen Manor owners will have two weeks to address other non-emergency issues like leaking roofs, or the borough may put up notices to vacate once again. Razzi said that 90 to 95 of the complex’s units had failed a borough inspection. Anna Patras, counsel for the Silverman Group, which owns the property, indicated that the company plans to vet and contract with a new local team to cover maintenance, repair and quality-of-life issues and that the owners have set up a new email account to receive tenants’ concerns. Razzi said the borough had received 25 complaints from residents in the past three months concerning issues like mold, roof leaks and insects that had gone unaddressed. He also indicated the borough had been attempting to work with the owners for more than a year to get things up to code. Chapter 93 of the Glenolden Borough Code states, “Whenever the Housing Officer finds that a rental dwelling unit constitutes a serious hazard to the health or safety of the occupants or to the public because it is dilapidated, unsanitary, vermin-infested, rodent-infested or lacking in basic facilities and equipment required by this chapter, he shall designate such dwelling unit as unfit for human habitation.” While some tenants have been critical of the borough’s use of subcontractor inspectors and lax inspection, Razzi said the borough intends to keep the pressure on to make sure the repairs are made at the property.
Source: Daily Times; 9/11/2024