Last week, I saw Uncle Joe, an owner of the commercial property next to mine, sitting in his truck and decided I would ask him about the upside-down couch sitting in his back lot, up against the fence between our properties. The couch was potential harborage for rats, I told him. “Can you move it?”
He said he would get someone to do it.
Two days later, the couch is on top of the roof of the garbage storage shed behind Pizza Lovers.
Well, at least it’s not providing harborage for rats anymore.
Let me tell you about this couch.
About 2 months ago, it was in the middle of the lot along with a slew of other debris. Sometimes, children would play amongst the rubbish. A little boy, who I’m guessing was a relative of the Pizza Lovers owner, with nothing better to do, hammered at some concrete footings, breaking them up, and pursuing such other little boy’s mischief as slinging things over the fence. I told the boy to stop. He ignored me, resulting in me notifying his chaperones. I never see this little boy out back anymore.
I digress. Anyway, you get the picture. Two months ago, my ward councilor called and said that he and some officials from Inspectional Services were going to surprise the owner of Pizza Lovers the next morning by paying a visit and reading him the riot act about the condition of the back lot. This they did, but the night before, I observed the owner of Pizza Lovers frantically cleaning the back lot. Did a fairly good job too, except that he moved the couch from the middle of the lot and put it in a corner up against the fence.
Why did the owner of Pizza Lovers suddenly get religion, on the eve of a planned enforcement action? Shouldn’t it be the landlord’s responsibility to clean the back lot? Apparently, someone from City Hall is a pizza aficionado and the restaurant’s lease is written in such a way that it is responsible for maintenance of the back in exchange for a break on rent.
So this couch is emblematic to me, a symbol if you will, of half-assed jobs, vague expectations and general sloppiness. And there it is now, out in the open, daring me to do something about it.
To me, this couch is also an emblem of all that is wrong with the city’s enforcement of its own vague, sometimes misguided ordinances. More on that later.
You Might Be Living in a Slum when…
The Lynn-side Edition 
Colleen
September 27, 2012
I am empathetic about your situation. I hope as more energy comes into this city, as it is these days, this slothfulness on the part of some people will change!
Lover of Pizza
October 15, 2012
The City of Lynn clearly is not “perfect” but I do know that if not for the many small business owners in this city, property taxes would be much higher and many wonderful programs that we have in this city would not receive support and funding.
I know that area well and live only a couple blocks away. It seems we have all been hit hard by the rat problems in town. I actually moved from my last apartment because it abutted a business and their rat problem was creeping under my fence into my own yard. In spite of the business’s efforts and my own I had enough and moved. I know the owners of Pizza Lovers and order from them on a regular basis (they make the best Greek style pizza in the area and keep a commitment to fresh ingredients and cleanliness in their store and food prep areas.) It appears that they get a decent flow of customers who share my opinion. I am also surprised that that strip houses a hair salon and a recently opened small variety store and collectively they keep the front of those businesses free of trash and riff raff that that sort of situation can bring.
Honestly, I think the entire area where those shops are is pretty run down on both sides of the street. The apartment buildings and houses across the street and on either side are filthy with trash in their yards and in dire need of repairs (stairs missing etc.). It seems the houses surrounding and apartments need more attention.
As the writer of this article I commend you for dealing with your issue with the neighbor’s child in the yard with them. They clearly were accommodating to you as you said not only has the little boy stopped, but he is no longer even out in the yard any more as a result. What I don’t understand is, why would you want inspectors making life more difficult for a neighbor if clearly a simple conversation with them has already proven effective in the past? It seems that it doesn’t take an inspector to “get him religion” only a request from a neighbor. Why would you complain about them and mention them in a negative light when they are such contributors to the community and work very hard to support themselves in an economy that has been hit so hard? It seems such reporting agencies would be better occupied with checking in on places that serve up orders of food poisoning and leave their garbage unwrapped and laying on the street like I have seen done down town.
Maybe a little less focus on that couch in someone else’s yard and a little more focus on real issues is what will make the most difference.
lynnsideedition
October 17, 2012
Your comment really stunned me. I take your point seriously. You’re right. Thanks for the reality check. It seems I’ve gotten carried away with complaining, and I’ve observed that always complaining can be counter-productive. I won’t dispute anything you wrote, but only say that you can’t know what my experience has been through the years. I therefore may see things a bit differently from you, but you have made your point and I take it seriously.