MORGANTOWN — A Sanford Street resident said he and his neighbors are tired of drug activity in and around their neighborhood and would like Morgantown City Council to consider a law implemented by a number of West Virginia cities through which property owners/landlords can be held responsible for illegal activity by tenants.
John Mullins told members of council that there has been a drug bust and a drug-related incident on nearby Dorsey Avenue in the past two weeks. Mullins said that his brother-in-law, who lives across the street from him, had to run a stranger off his property in the middle of the afternoon on the day following the latest incident,
“A police report was filed with this guy coming around my house and the police agreed it was most probably related to the incident the night before that involved an unmarked police car and four officers,” Mullins said.
He went on to say that about half the residents of Sanford Street expressed their thoughts on the situation during a recent meeting of the 1st Ward Neighborhood Association.
“During the meeting I was made aware that the City of Martinsburg has adopted a drug house ordinance. This ordinance is designed to help property owners manage the very difficult situations and hold property owners accountable who choose not to deal with illegal activity being conducted in their properties,” Mullins said.
The legislation Mullins referenced was passed by Martinsburg City Council in 2016. According to press releases issued by the Martinsburg Police Department, the ordinance allowed police to address 24 properties that had been the focus of 191 calls for service over the course of a year.
Huntington, Parkersburg and Clarksburg are among the cities that have since passed similar laws.
Mullins provided copies of the Martinsburg legislation to members of council. The law states that a property owner is in violation of the law and subject to a fine if they permit or encourage illegal activity or fail to address it within 30 days of receiving notice from law enforcement.
A 20-year resident of Morgantown, Mullins said he’s sad to see the toll the ongoing opioid crisis is taking on his city. He said implementation of a drug house ordinance would be another tool with which communities can fight back.
“We need to stand together as a community. The entities that make this possible in our town need to be taken to task for that, be they property owners or tenants,” he said, later adding, “I’ve lived here almost half my life. I love this town. It’s a great place to live, but it’s becoming less great.”
Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake said city administration is reviewing the law, but there is no timetable on when or if it will appear on a council agenda.
Messages left for Martinsburg Police Chief Maury Richards, the West Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the West Virginia Landlord’s Association were not returned in time for this report.
