Nearly three months after a tornado attacked in eastern and southern Raleigh, the rebuilding has continued and unfortunately, in some cases, has stalled. Toward a goal of making things whole, Raleigh officials are both pushing and helping property owners who have been stymied by other misfortune, from illness to the loss of a job and the overwhelming financial hardship that the combination of those factors with a natural disaster can cause.
City officials are more aggressive in notifying property owners who haven't cleaned up debris that they must do so or face fines and the possibility that the city will have to send people in to complete cleanups and then charge residents. Failure to pay the city's bill might result in a lien being placed on someone's home.
While it might be tempting to call the city by a first name of Ebenezer, city officials say they're not heartless bureaucrats turning a blind eye to the dilemma in which some residents find themselves.
They have a point. The city will not begin to fine people if, for example, they can give city inspectors a reasonable time frame in which they promise to clear and clean their property. That seems fair. And even if they don't find satisfaction from inspectors, those property owners can take their issue to the Raleigh City Council, where members have been fairly generous in granting people more time.
The city obviously doesn't want to have liens on houses or drive citizens from their homes. But it is true that debris lying around a house can be a health and safety hazard. What if children take to playing in areas with loose lumber or structures that have been partially damaged? The concern for clean property, in other words, isn't simply one of aesthetics.
That said, city officials must make it clear to inspectors that the city recognizes the context of the times. Many people, across the economic spectrum, have seen their income diminish or disappear in the Great Recession. And yard cleanup, given that insurance companies may cover only a small portion of costs, can run into hundreds or thousands of dollars that most people don't have in the bank.
The city is doing some creative things: If a property owner has debris left behind by the tornado in streams, Raleigh will clean that up for free. And those who are having trouble paying their expenses for rebuilding can tap into a special loan fund the city established.
These are positive steps, and it appears the city is mixing enforcement with compassion in terms of what people need to do within a reasonable time frame following what for some has been a disaster on top of a disaster.
Some residents have in addition questioned the slow pace of cleanup in cemeteries such as city-owned Mount Hope, where there remain felled trees and broken headstones. It's a valid concern and an understandable impatience. If the hang-up is that federal officials haven't given the necessary approval to do work on historic properties, then someone at that level needs to get it in gear.
