L&I gets inspection help from residents

The professionals in Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections are getting help in cracking down on building code violators – from residents who see the violations every time they step out the door.

L&I has launched a collaborative program to work with the community to identify problem buildings, to conduct full block surveys, and to do periodic inspections through the city. The program started with the inspection of more than 2,000 properties in West Philadelphia's Carroll Park neighborhood.

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L&I Commissioner Fran Burns says in Carroll Park the agency issued more than 200 violations for property maintenance, and put three properties on the demolition list.

Edith Dixon is a community organizer who works on zoning issues at the Southwest Community Development Corporation. She says she would welcome a similar partnership with L&I.

Dixon: We have over 100,000 people in Southwest Philadelphia in the area that we cover and we have some 2,100 vacant and abandoned buildings. They're terribly dangerous and we have a problem with raccoons and possums. I have one woman who was lying in bed and the possum that was living in the house next door ate through the wall and bit her on the foot while she was slept.

L&I officials haven't decided which community they'll partner with next.