The city will continue to use the Department of Public Works to addres code violations, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The abundance of abandoned, overgrown, and illegal dumping is dragging down property values, contributing to health problems and harboring crime.

The city will continue to bill owners or place liens on properties to try to recoup its costs for cleaning up the abandoned properties. This is good news for homeowners in Church Hill, who anxiously await for neglected properties to be cleaned up.

"A new, wooden fence concealed an ugly truth at 506 Chimborazo Blvd. in Richmond's East End.

Mosquito-infested brush, broken glass and construction debris were strewn in large piles across the yard behind the vacant, two-story house.

Michael Evins, a grounds division manager in the Department of Public Works, paused in his vehicle off a narrow alley and said the yard appeared to be a dumpsite for much of the neighborhood. Then, he sized up the magnitude of yet another cleanup job -- more than three large truckloads of debris, requiring a skilled crew and a Bobcat loader.

'It's a tinderbox waiting to happen,' he said of the hazardous mess.

Last month, Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced a program to eliminate a backlog of about 250 neglected and blighted properties that have been flagged for cleanup by the city.

Officials say the work on the properties, scheduled to wrap up this month, is part of what will be a more efficient response by the city to problems caused by negligent, often-absentee property owners. For example, city property records list the owner of the house on Chimborazo at an address in Fredericksburg."

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