Neighbors urge cleanup after Riverside Avenue fire; city outlines blight task force and limits of enforcement

Neighbors asked the Ogdensburg City Council on Tuesday to force cleanup and demolition of an abandoned industrial parcel at 502 Riverside Avenue after a suspicious fire destroyed one building and injured a resident.

In a letter to council, neighborhood signatories said the two former oil-company buildings on the parcel had been abandoned for decades and reported repeated break-ins and squatting. The letter called for the city to “condemn and demolish” the easterly structure and to install curbing and topsoil on the parcel to prevent erosion. The correspondence cited the city code’s unsafe-building provisions and neighborhood-maintenance requirements.

Fire Chief Ken Stowell told council that vacant and blighted properties present a longstanding, multi-faceted problem and described the city’s civil-code process for addressing them. “The building was identified, and the property was secured at the city's expense. And someone removed the boarding and entered the structure,” Stowell said about a recent reentry and a small, contained fire at one vacant building. He walked council through steps: street-level assessments, orders to remediate (disconnect services, boarding, fencing, signage), and, if owners do not comply, the city may perform remediations and place costs on the property tax bill.

Stowell explained the limits: enforcement is civil and depends on voluntary compliance; trespass is criminal but arrests rely on owners pursuing charges. He described how remediation costs placed on tax levies are often recovered only when the property eventually goes through county foreclosure — a process that can take 12–18 months. “These properties are not being ignored by the city,” Stowell said, adding that staffing and funds constrain the city’s ability to fully remediate every site immediately.

Councilors asked about using donated festival fencing to secure the site before Seaway Festival and whether the city can move faster to board and fence properties. City management said the city can choose to spend funds to secure sites and that code enforcement has been in contact with the owner of the Riverside parcel; the ordering step had expired and must be moved to the next remedial phase if the owner does not act.

Stowell said the department has a maintained list of problem properties dating to 2017, continues monthly visual inspections, pursues grants for large sites, and is starting a vacant-property task force of code, fire, police, management and community representatives. He said the city will meet with St. Lawrence County officials soon to explore partnership on remediation programs.

Ending: council requested staff to prioritize immediate fencing/boarding where public safety risk is evident and to report back on options and costs; staff and the chief said they will provide updates from the forthcoming county meeting and the vacant-property task force.