Neighborhood Nuisance: Vacant home’s troubling foundation causing sink holes in North Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Becky Smith has lived in her Page Street home her entire life, and in recent years the home next door has been a problem.

“It was beautiful. The whole neighborhood is beautiful. It was alive, kids playing. It was an awesome place to grow up in. It’s sad how it is now, it’s just sad,” said Smith.

According to Smith, the sink holes has been there even before the old owner left.

” The previous owner used to throw milk jugs down there, to try to cover it , and it just grew bigger and bigger,” said Smith.

And the holes attract unwanted visitors − rats − to Smith’s home.

" I can’t even leave a loaf of bread out on the counter last winter. It was terrible, I have five kids and they can’t play in the yard half the time because they’re [rats] running around the yard,” said Smith.

Smith added after years of looking for answers, and she doesn’t know what else to do. ” I’m aggravated, I’m disgusted, I’m angry because the city doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it. They keep promising me and promising me. I’ve called the mayor, I’ve called the city council, and nothing.“

A representative from the City of Toledo’s Code Enforcement Department told 13abc that the property has a history of work orders. After sending inspectors out, they determined the property was vacant, in disrepair, overgrown, and a candidate for demolition. They hope the property will be torn along with hundreds of others in the city later this year.

If you have a troubled property in your community that has become a neighborhood nuisance, send an email to willie.daniely@13abc.com. Include photos, contact information, and as many details as possible.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2022 WTVG. All rights reserved.