Code inspectors inched through Maple Grove Apartments, marking apparent violations.
By Rob Johnson
As reported in The Roanoke Times on Thursday, four of the apartments have been cited for various code deficiencies, such as mold-ridden drywall, since mid-March. Residents say poor maintenance of the 40-unit complex contributes to dissatisfaction that boils over into anger at one another.
"The bottom line is we're trying to prevent situations like what was in the paper today," said Dan Webb, the city's codes compliance coordinator. "Three inspectors got together and decided to go out there this morning."
By midmorning, inspectors had written down numerous apparent violations that will be reported to the apartments' owner, Dr. George Abraham, a
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond's Refugee and Immigration Services office in
JOSH MELTZER The Roanoke Times Tricia Arrington, covering her nose and mouth while inspecting her bathroom at the Maple Grove Apartments, told Roanoke code inspectors that when her upstairs neighbor flushes the toilet, feces and urine come into her sink and tub. The apartment has been condemned, and she is in the process of moving. JOSH MELTZER The Roanoke Times Somali-Bantu refugees Rukia Ali (left), holding Ahmed Abwes, and Slaha Waliyo (right), with her baby Hassan Owese and 3-year-old Zahara Mukumbria, wait outside the apartment complex while Roanoke code inspector Troy Coles makes notes about apparent violations.
Maple Grove
Another tenant planning to move out over safety concerns is the Virginia Tech Pilot Street Program, a nonprofit refugee education group that rents a unit at Maple Grove Apartments as classroom space.
Four of the apartments had already been cited since mid-March, and many of the code violations were found still untended on Thursday. Votina Durham, one of the inspectors, discovered that an apartment she had officially condemned on April 2 was still occupied -- although she had ordered it vacated. "You need to get out," she told the tenant, Tricia Arrington, who has five children. Arrington said she would move in with family elsewhere in
Inspector Troy Coles couldn't even get past the front door to the hallways of the four buildings without writing down numerous code violations such as exposed electrical wiring. He noted missing weather stripping at the bottom of one entrance -- leaving an opening big enough that "rodents could get in there."
One factor angering both the Americans and the refugees is that Abraham recently raised rents, which residents said range from $425 to $550 a month for two- and three-bedroom units. The $25 per month increase is partly to pay for damage such as broken windows caused by thrown rocks, the residents said.
Some infractions were largely cosmetic but were contributors to the overall blighted appearance of the complex. Coles offered to help Abraham's maintenance man make arrangements to rent a pressure washer to clean the exterior siding. But that wouldn't be enough, Coles said: "Pretty much the whole complex will need repainting."
Failure to correct a violation of the city's maintenance code within a specified time, usually 30 days, is classified as a criminal misdemeanor and may result in a fine of up to $2,500. Failure to pay or do the repair work gives the city the option to do the work and bill the owner for costs, plus an extra 20 percent.
The inspectors found so many violations that they had reviewed only a handful of apartments by
One unit still awaiting inspectors' arrival is rented to Asha Mohamed, 20, who emigrated from
Still, even an appearance by Abraham at the apartments in response to a complaint is rare, she said. "If we phone him he hardly ever calls back, and he never, ever answers his phone."
Mohamed's husband, Hassan Jumale, works at