The Editor,
Re. "Derelict buildings an issue?" (The Tri-City News, June 1).
Of course derelict buildings are an issue in Port Coquitlam. Just boarding up an abandoned house is not enough.
There are two other boarded up houses on the same block of Kelly Avenue and one on the next block. The grass has not been cut or tended to in who knows how long, there is graffiti on the homes and the boards have been pried off the windows. They are a disgrace, yet that is what I see every day when I arrive on my street and when I look out my front window.
Visitors to my home (and our city) are also greeted by these unsightly properties, properties that the city seems to ignore because they are boarded up. It is time that the city required owners of homes to care for their properties, and if a lot is slated for redevelopment, then the city should require the owner to demolish the house. Residents should not have to keep tabs on these homes.
Heather Rossi, Port Coquitlam
