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City works with property owner to address homeless encampment

The owner of the Pennsylvania Avenue lot upon which a homeless encampment is located has expressed an interest in the city taking over the property.

This is according to information provided by Morgantown Communications Manager Andrew Stacy.

The camp, known as Diamond Village, has been in place for more than a month and was initiated with the property owner’s blessing.

According to a timeline provided by Stacy, the property owner reached out to the city on May 27.

“He said he wanted to work with the City to address the health and safety concerns and have the individuals off the property as it was beginning to cause a disruption, and also wanted to work to make sure the unsheltered individuals had somewhere to go.”

Conversation and debate about how the city should handle the situation has raged from social media to Morgantown City Council meetings.

The city’s position up to this point has been that it has no standing to remove the camp as long as it’s sanitary and on private property with the owner’s permission.

While code enforcement officers noted there were multiple valid complaints about trash and debris in the area, no citations were issued.

“The main item related to the encampment that would apply would be sanitation. The primary sanitation concerns that were noted by Code Enforcement have been addressed. City Code prohibits camping without a permit in parks, but it does not prohibit camping on private property,” Stacy explained.

Stacy also noted the city is working closely with social service agencies to get those at the camp into housing.

As of June 2, there were 14 tents at the camp housing roughly 20 people, according to the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness.

Diamond Village has also become part of a larger, ongoing discussion within the Greenmont neighborhood in which it’s located.

While the Morgantown Police Department says crime in the neighborhood isn’t seeing a notable increase, a number of residents have spoken out about a perceived increase in trespassing, drug use and other unwanted activity.

The Greenmont Neighborhood Association targeted a number of vacant structures as a major contributor to the issues and brought a nuisance, or drug house, ordinance to city council, which ultimately opted to wait until after the COVID-19 health crisis to take up the issue — after opponents of the law expressed concerns that it could result in people being evicted during the viral pandemic.

Nuisance ordinances attempt to make absentee property owners take responsibility for repeated criminal violations in their properties.

A recent petition delivered to city council asked the city to take action against six properties in Greenmont — 611, 619 and 629 Brockway Ave., 565 Clark St., 324 Dewey St. and 625 Pennsylvania Ave. All are owned by Herald Berthy.

Three of those properties were already on the city’s radar. Council will conduct a hearing on a nuisance abatement declaration for 625 Pennsylvania Ave., 324 Dewey St. and 619 Brockway Ave. on June 16.

A vacant home at 619 Brockway partially burned in February. It is believed people in the home illegally had set a fire to keep warm.

That house sits feet from 201 Overdale St., the location of a vacant building that burned in January 2019.

Greenmont Neighborhood Association President Ivy Deal said the neighborhood is tired of being at the mercy of landlords and property owners who refuse to be good neighbors.

As for Diamond Village, Deal said she hopes its inhabitants are able get access to whatever services they need.

“Obviously, they need more help than we’re giving them,” she said, adding, “But I expect them to be good neighbors the same way I do the 84-year-old beside me or the 20-year-old across the street.”

The parcel upon which the camp is located was purchased in October by Blue Hammer Rentals LLC. The West Virginia Secretary of State’s website lists Erik Edwards and Jay Scorzetti as officers for the business.


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