Perry defends city's actions on 'garden' property

Yahoo

01-05-2025

Niagara Falls City Council Chairman Jim Perry on Tuesday strongly defended the city's decision to issue clean neighborhood ordinance violations and deliver a cleanup bill totaling nearly $2,300 to the occupants of an Ontario Avenue home where family members have maintained a garden covering the front yard for several years.
In defending the city's actions as justified, Perry publicly chastised the newspaper's coverage of the situation in a social media post that was shared on the official Facebook page of the mayor of the City of Niagara Falls.
That criticism comes despite the paper's repeated attempts to contact city officials about the property.
Perry suggested in his post that the Gazette failed to document the true condition of the property, which the newspaper described in two previous stories as having a garden planted in the front yard by the occupants — Justine Burger, her fiancee Kenneth Johnson, and their three children, ages 2, 4 and 15.
In his post, Perry said the photo used for the previous Gazette story, which was taken from the couple's Facebook page, was 'in no way representative of what the house looked like' when the city began investigating complaints about the property's condition.
'I was always one who was very much in support of my hometown newspaper,' Perry wrote. 'I always thought it was necessary to bring real news to the community. People who pointed to the news and said it was biased were just disgruntled, but a recent articles in the Niagara Gazette has me on the verge of canceling my subscription. I know it is no big deal, just one more person deciding not to buy the local paper, but now that I am in the government and I see the facts and then see the one-sided articles being written, I can't sit quietly without saying something.'
In his post, Perry described the newspaper's report not as a news story but rather a 'blatant twist of facts.' Perry said he received 'many complaints' from neighbors about the condition of the couple's property. He posted on social media several photos he said he received weeks before the city took any action. The Gazette published some of those photos as part of today's coverage.
'One of the neighbors wrote to me that these conditions have been like this for over two years, and it was time something was done,' Perry said. 'They told me the condition of the home was attracting rats due to feces in the yard being left there and not being disposed of.'
What Perry did not acknowledge in his post, despite a request from the newspaper to do so, was that the Gazette emailed City Administrator Anthony Restaino at 11 a.m. Monday, requesting additional information about the property and asking if the administration could share any photos or prior complaints about its condition.
'We welcome any comment the city may have and I would welcome the opportunity to speak directly to DPW Director Ken Tompkins if the administration clears him to do so,' the reporter noted in Monday's email. 'Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.'
The city administrator did not respond to the email, nor did any representative from the administration.
That followed a request sent to the city administrator on April 23 asking to speak with someone from the city about the situation.
Burger's family has in recent years used the front of the property they have rented at 2627 Ontario Ave. as an area for planting flowers and vegetables. Their garden area included cinderblocks and logs and extended from their porch to the sidewalk and from the sidewalk to the street, an area that is considered part of the public right of way.
On April 21 — the Monday after Easter — a crew from the city's Department of Public Works visited the property and hauled away the cinder blocks, logs and other materials. The crew also cleaned up the side of the house and the backyard, where they removed a refrigerator with a door on it that DPW officials said posed a danger to children.
On Monday, Anthony Restaino said the cleanup followed an April 3 notice to the occupants of violations of the city's Clean Neighborhood Ordinance, which enforces standards for property maintenance and cleanliness, including waste disposal, vehicle storage, and grass length. The ordinance allows the city to remove any 'violating condition' and seek reimbursement of 'cleanup costs, disbursement and handling fee and an administrative penalty payable by the owner or occupant.
Burger said DPW crew members told her they were sent to the house in response to a complaint from an unidentified neighbor. She said she was told by a secretary in the DPW office that the complaint was received on March 21. She said the same secretary also told her the complaint had been 'cleared' on April 14, about a week before city crews arrived to clear out her property.
On Friday, Burger and Johnson received a bill from the city for $2,296 that included costs for the cleanup as well as a charge based on the weight of the materials removed from the property by DPW employees.
In an interview on Tuesday, Burger said the photos taken by the DPW and shared by Perry showed the condition of her family's property earlier this month and that they showed the remnants of their garden following the winter months. She said the photos did not represent what the property looks like in spring and summer when it is in full bloom. She said her family intended, once the weather started to improve, to begin working on the yard and replanting their garden.
'We take care of our yard every year. This is something we do every year. It was like spring mode for us. We were in the process of cleaning up,' she said.
Burger said she took strong exception to Perry's questioning the safety of her children, including her teenage son who has autism while referencing the city's need to remove the danger that the refrigerator posed.
'The lady in the article was quoted as saying it was something that made her autistic son happy,' Perry wrote. 'I was told by a couple of the city workers that there was a refrigerator in her backyard with the door still attached. Now if I had a child and was concerned about his welfare, autistic or not, isn't that something to be concerned about?'
Previous stories published by the Gazette about the issue generated hundreds of comments on the newspaper's Facebook page, with the majority of them supporting the couple while criticizing city officials for cleaning their property and fining them when there are many other neglected and unsightly properties, both personal and commercial, across the Falls.
The family started a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover the cost of the fine. As of Tuesday, it had raised $650.
'We're overjoyed. It's definitely a blessing,' Burger said of the community's support.
Multiple media outlets reported that Mayor Robert Restaino is expected to release a statement and a timeline of the city's response to the property on Wednesday.