21 Responses to “Fun on 47th”

1. posted by Jennifer C. at July 3, 2008 9:17 am :
   

   The T-D got the details slightly wrong - it wasn’t a house. Nobody will ever guess which address it was, either… *eyeroll*

2. posted by Jennifer C. at July 3, 2008 9:18 am :
   

   Oh, you changed it on me! I swear it quoted the article when I posted the comment.

3. posted by Bill at July 3, 2008 9:43 am :
   

   Busted. Guilty as charged.

4. posted by Jennifer C. at July 3, 2008 9:49 am :
   

   I thought I was going cross-eyed for a second there :)

5. posted by David at July 3, 2008 11:23 am :
   

   For the record, the owner of the property at 1207 W. 47th Street, who is not responsive to the community or city government, is Geoffrey A. Hensley, 6458 Lakeway Drive, Mechanicsville. Telephone is 559-3657.

6. posted by Phil Licking at July 6, 2008 9:58 am :
   

   Word from neighbors on W. 47th St. is that another story will air tonight (Sunday, July 6th) on WTVR-TV6 in their 6pm report.

7. posted by Martha at July 6, 2008 2:47 pm :
   

   There has to be better use for that building. The home owners in the area shouldn’t have to put up with the crap that goes on there. You wouldn’t believe the profanity you hear out front when walking by on the street…in daylight, well before dark. I’ve never before seen such trashy mess going on in the area. And has anyone noticed those trollops hanging around???

8. posted by Tripp at July 6, 2008 7:45 pm :
   

   Martha,

   Woodland Heights/Reedy Creek residents say that exact same thing about Panchino’s at 3410 Semmes Avenue across the street from Patrick Henry Elementary School.

   Any ideas on what to do with either are most welcomed!

9. posted by Geoffrey at July 7, 2008 10:02 am :
   

   As the manager of the property in question, please allow me to add some clarification that may help resolve this situation. The contact information the FHNA has for the me is incorrect. The correct contact information is:

   Nobul Properties
   PO Box 53
   Sandston, VA 23150
   804-363-4889
   nobulproperties@comcast.net

   I encourage anyone who has concerns to report them by mail, phone, or email. Please include any and all detail available, as the more information I have, the easier it is for me to take action quickly.

   I am sorry the perception is that I am not responsive, but when contacted by the proper means, I assure you that is not the case.

10. posted by John Butcher at July 15, 2008 5:40 pm :
    

    The note from “Geoffrey” is an interesting contradiction to the public record.

    The Richmond GIS reports today that Nobul Properties LLC owns the apartments at 1207-09 W. 47th St. The SCC LLC Data Inquiry page this afternoon reports that Geoffrey Hensley, 6458 Lakeway Dr., Mechanicsville is the Registered Agent for Nobul Properties LLC.

    Yet “Geoffrey” on July 7 says that the contact is a PO Box in Sandston, listed above.

    In any event, the IBRS reports 51 offenses at those two addresses since 1/1/00, including 2 aggravated assaults, 2 drug/narcotic violations, 2 robberies, 12 simple assaults, and 5 domestic simple assaults. That doesn’t sound to me like a safe place, no matter what “Geoffrey’s” address may be.

11. posted by Ron at July 18, 2008 8:25 am :
    

    Grace Lerose of the FHNA has been aggressively pursuing this issue, and has had some very positive results from the new director of the Behavioral Health Authority. He has also met with Councilwoman Graziano and has promised to keep the heat on. Thanks to Grace.

12. posted by Justin at August 13, 2008 8:19 am :
    

    I attended this meeting last night with an open mind and the sincere hope to resolve the issues at this property. I was pleased to hear 5 people have been kicked out, and the police should be cross checking to insure these 5 represent the troublemakers there. I sincerely hope this will be the case, and time will tell.

    I believe the people in this building face challenges beyond my comprehension, and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Perhaps I am naive, but I believe they want the same peace and quiet our neighborhood wants.

    Certain neighborhood people there should be ashamed of themselves, for they have no other agenda than the eviction of all of these people as clearly evident from their demenor. I’m sure with a wine glass in their hand, they wax poetic about equal treatment, affordable housing, and help for the less fortunate—just not in their neighborhood.

    Grace LeRose should be especially embarrased by her consistent and repeated negative and borderline ludicrous comments. She uttered not one positive word, not one hope for the future, not one solution other than the eviction of the entire building. Madam, your hypocrisy is disgusting.

    Justin Nelson
    4104 Hillcrest Road for 13 years

13. posted by Jesse at August 13, 2008 9:09 am :
    

    I think Grace did a good job keeping the meeting on track and focusing on the behavior, and perpetuation of it because of the violations of the building, and not the tenants. No one at the meeting, tenants and residents of the neighborhood, ever said they wanted everyone evicted, but that they all (tenants and residents) were tired of living in a dangerous community.

14. posted by David at August 13, 2008 10:03 am :
    

    And I could not disagree more. I was also at the meeting. Grace has been hearing for a year about problems of behavior at this location, public alcohol abuse, drug use, loud and threatening behavior. But many of the real victims are the residents, who have had to put up with this behavior and the complete lack of regard for their own safety. Look at the CAPS reports, with hevy mold in the building, safty lights out…If Grace had no picked up this issue, those residents would have had no advocate at all.

15. posted by David at August 13, 2008 10:53 am :
    

    For the record, my disagreement is with the opinion of Justin. I support Grace and the FHNA effort.

16. posted by Mike Shaw at August 13, 2008 11:03 am :
    

    I too was at the meeting last night. I would like to point out what seemed to go unnoticed the entire meeting. Since July 3rd when Geoffrey was finally contacted and made aware of the concerns and issues that the neighborhood association had with this property he has made progress toward resolving those concern and issues.

    1. He has evicted 5 of the 6 identified tenants responsible for causing disturbances and the 6th one is pending and will be evicted August 28th.
    2. After CAPS inspection he has addressed the violations by either repairs\replacement and or has shown future plans to resolve violations. This was confirmed by the district Attorney in the meeting.
    3. Has provided tenants and surrounding neighbors his contact information so as to act quickly on complaints and disturbances at the property.
    4. Has worked with law enforcement to take action on these disturbances and what he can legally do to take steps to prevent disturbances in the future.

    It seemed to me that the agenda of the meeting was not to work together and come up with a realistic plan to make the property a safe and appearance pleasing place to live, but to show all the faults\disturbances with property and thus put in everyone’s mind that the only solution is to evict and shut down the apartment complex.

17. posted by James at August 13, 2008 11:26 am :
    

    I was also in attendance at last nights meeting and although no one came right out and said they wanted the residents to be evicted the tone was such that the area neighbors would not be upset if that were the case. I believe one of the residents summed it up very articulately with her statments about feeling like an outcast of the community. Is this really what we want???

    I will agree there have been many issues in the past surrounding this building, but the facts are that 5 of the problem residents have been evicted (after due process), the owner has been in contact with the city, has applied for permits to have the necessary work done to bring the building to code (after vandalization) and honestly has made a commitment to the community to improve the quality of life for the residents on 47th street.

    There are not many options for low income housing in our area and it is sad. I moved to Richmond about 7 years ago and one of the many reasons I choose to reside in the city is for its diversity. I believe we as a community should try and embrace this diversity an make a commitment to make the ALL of its residents feel welcome. If we don’t like it we always have the option of moving to evil short pump.

    I feel good about the outcome of last nights meeting and look forward to our community growing together.

18. posted by Justin at August 13, 2008 11:30 am :
    

    I interpreted the direct questions concerning the zoning of the property for use by residents with these life challenges to therefore imply an ability to evict them through zoning action. I am not without faults, and if I misinterpreted the intent of these questions, I owe an apology and will provide it. However, I see no other reason for this line of questioning, so while wait for an explanation.

    Justin Nelson

19. posted by David at August 13, 2008 11:42 am :
    

    Justin,
    I have a little of the background. Many of us believe that many of the residents are the real victims. They live in unsafe units, with exposed wiring, heavy black and brown mold, poor sanitation. If Hensley has indeed managed to get rid of the criminal element, that’s good as far as it goes. It still does not absolve him of his responsbilities to run a safe, healthy environment for people who have all too few choices in the city.

20. posted by Justin at August 13, 2008 12:04 pm :
    

    David,

    I completely agree the environment should be safe & healthy, and sincerely hope you are correct in the “many” that believe so. However, I do not believe that was the overall tone expressed by most last night; rather, it more closely matches the above posts 7 & 8 on this blog—”better uses for the building”. I admit again my personal faults, and that I got rather angry. The meeting started off negative (which is never, never done by those in the know, not even at a funeral) and no surprised remained so—for which Grace is 100% responsible.
    Justin

21. posted by Jesse at August 13, 2008 3:52 pm :
    

    I do feel like it’s important to point out that the owner of the building was the only one last night that said they feel like there are “better uses for the building” than what it is now and discussed that last night.

    No one asked the building to be anything other than a safe apartment building at the meeting and that’s the intent. The zoning issues are not related to the persons living in the building, but that as it is zoned it has to be maintained to a certain standard. As the CAPS representative stated, it is not meeting those requirements as it sits right now and needs to meet those requirements for the safety of the residents, and by CAPS mission statement, the safety of the neighborhood.

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