Syracuse Common Council will soon vote on a law that may make the city a safer place, giving law enforcement the authority to close down properties with a history of drug and prostitution arrests.

The Council postponed Monday’s vote on revisions to the nuisance abatement ordinance. The ordinance allows residents and law enforcement officials to hold a hearing to shut down city properties if three or more arrests have occurred in the area within 24 months. The properties can be closed for 30 days to a year.

‘(The law) entails prostitution, weapons, and drugs and we’re adding to it loitering for prostitution, loitering for possession or use of controlled substances, criminal nuisance in the first degree and criminal nuisance in the second degree,’ said Councilor-at-Large Bill Ryan, the chairman of the public safety committee for the Syracuse Common Council.

Criminal nuisance includes unlawful or generally unreasonable behavior that endangers the health or safety of a large number of people, Ryan said.

The change is aimed at cutting down on the number of dangerous properties and focuses on crimes such as gambling, prostitution, and drugs.

‘We’re targeting drug houses, houses involved in the sale of marijuana or cocaine,’ said Rich Pulchalski, the executive director of Syracuse United Neighbors, a neighborhood watch group.

The amendment forces owners to be more responsible about what happens on their property.

‘I’m not sure if landlords are even going to be more active about it,’ said Jayson Garcia, a freshman aerospace engineering major who doubts students will change their conduct on the streets. ‘I don’t think anyone cares about what a landlord is going to say.’

The law is expected to go into effect immediately upon signature of the mayor, which will probably be Jan.1, Ryan said.

The amendment will go to vote without changes despite requests from SUN for additional amendments. SUN objected to the need for assault cases to result in convictions to count as nuisances, which can reduce the possibility of getting a property shut down, Pulchalski said.

The group also wanted murder to be included in the amendment, in light of the two murders that occurred at a still-open property on Onondaga Street in May.

‘Certainly no ordinance or legislation is an end-all, but it’s a step in the right direction,’ Ryan said. ‘This, along with the certificate of use, implemented Jan. 1 of this year, will go a long way to improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods, which is the long-term goal.’

Ryan and other council members Jeff DeFrancisco and Stephanie Miner approached all Syracuse neighborhood groups and asked what their biggest concerns were about the area. The overwhelming response, Ryan said, was that there were properties that were havens for illegal activities.

‘This adds more of what I like to call bells and whistles. If you have a problem property, maybe this will come and push it over to three offenses,’ Pulchalski said.

After three offenses, the Syracuse Police Department informs SUN that there is a nuisance property. SUN then collects statements from neighbors, some of whom testify at the administrative hearing. The property can then be closed for up to a year.

Most recently, 213 Kellogg St. and 601 Tully St. were closed for nuisance violations, and more hearings are scheduled for this month, Pulchalski said.

The nuisance abatement ordinance is similar to the certificate of use ordinance, which assigns points to bars and stores after a crime is committed on their property.

While the law may help to improve student safety, it is not aimed at cutting back nuisances commonly associated with students, such as noise violations.

‘Lots of things are considered a nuisance, but not all are criminal nuisance,’ Ryan said. ‘Certainly, neighbors have concerns about parties, but that’s not what it’s for. It’s for landlords who allow criminal behavior to go on. It has to do with the public safety of the community at large.’

Published on December 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm