PITTSBURGH — Residents who live in the Lincoln-Lemington section of the City of Pittsburgh are demanding action after a leaning retaining wall started collapsing and crumbling onto their street.
But city officials told 11 Investigates it’s not their property.
They said it’s private property and the neighbors are responsible for the wall.
The neighbors told city officials several years ago that they were going to reach out to Channel 11 Chief Investigator Rick Earle for help, but decided to hold off after it appeared that the city was going to help them.
That never happened, so they recently reached out to Earle, who began looking into their situation.
Earle discovered it’s been the source of frustration for years for the handful of neighbors who live on the dead-end street known as Dunmore.
Earle examined maps and deeds of the entire area from the past 75 years, and he discovered the documents raise even more questions about who’s actually responsible for that wall.
Earle spoke with Kim Patterson, who recently retired from her job with Allegheny County, and another neighbor, 93-year-old Joyce Davis.
Both have lived on the street for years.
Patterson: We’re going to be corralled in.
Earle: You’re worried about it being a safety issue?
Patterson: We cannot get in.
Patterson and Davis are worried and concerned about their safety.
Earle: Did it collapse here?
Davis: All the way down.
Earle: It looks like it’s getting ready to fall in other places as well.
Davis: It will. It will. It has.
A retaining wall that separates the upper portion of Dunmore Street from the lower portion began falling onto their road.
Neighbors have patched it and attempted to repair certain sections but the rest of the three-foot-high wall is leaning in certain areas.
It appears that the concrete block wall could fall down at any time.
“It’s falling. The whole thing is leaning. It’s just a matter of time before it gets crazy and someone ends up dead. We’d like to get some help,” said Patterson, who’s worried that emergency crews may not be able to get into their street if more of the wall comes down and blocks the road.
Patterson showed us where she believes her property lines end and the city begins.
She claims it’s right at the edge of the retaining wall.
Patterson: My property stops right here.
Earle: You’re saying this is city property?
Patterson: That’s city. Yes, it’s city.
But the Mayor’s office says it’s not city property.
They told Earle that the lower side of Dunmore Street, including the retaining wall, is a private road, while Upper Dunmore is public and maintained by the city.
“We pay city taxes, all of us have worked all of our lives, and we get no city services,” said Patterson.
About six years ago, Patterson went to city leaders and asked them to take over the road that she and her neighbors had maintained for years.
Earle: Do they plow these roads?
Patterson: No.
Earle: Do they salt them?
Patterson: No.
Earle: How do you get out of here?
Patterson: We have to shovel ourselves out. We pay a guy to come up here.
Email exchanges between Patterson and city officials several years ago looked promising.
In one email, a city official acknowledged the need for a policy to deal with hundreds of undedicated streets.
“The city recognizes the need for a policy that applies not just to residents of Dunmore, but all streets in the city, considering that we have over 700 undedicated streets throughout Pittsburgh. After the policy is created, eligible residents of undedicated streets like yours will be able to enter a legal agreement with the city’s law department so that DPW and other agencies can provide the necessary services,” a city official wrote.
At one point, Earle discovered that the Pittsburgh city council even had an ordinance drafted, and ready to go, declaring Dunmore “opened for public highway purposes.”
But nothing ever happened.
“We’re getting empty promises and we’re being sent on wild goose chases,” said Patterson.
In one email to the city several years ago, Patterson wrote, “Maybe rick earl (sic) of wpxi will produce some much-needed attention.”
After waiting for the city and getting nowhere, Patterson finally reached out to 11 Investigates a couple of months ago.
Earle went through deeds and maps and found one from 1950 that indicates a section of the road was dedicated for public use, but another map from 1969 shows it’s a private road.
Allegheny County’s real estate website indicated the city has owned the first part of that island that divides upper and lower Dunmore since June 7, 1966.
But here’s the problem: the city’s property line and homeowners’ property lines appear to meet at the retaining wall.
Earle went to City Councilman Khari Mosley, who represents the neighborhood.
Mosley was unaware of the issues surrounding the street and the retaining wall because he took office after Patterson had been dealing with the previous council member.
Patterson said she was so frustrated with the process that she did not reach out to Mosley after he took office.
Earle: It looks like the first several hundred feet of that island is owned by the city of Pittsburgh.
Mosley: Absolutely. absolutely. Yes, yes, and that’s what confused the Department of Public Works when they went there. I think they thought the whole street was private.
After we showed Mosley the maps and deeds, he promised to look into the neighbors’ concerns.
Mosley: We definitely do not want to leave those residents hanging.
Earle: Because they do pay city taxes.
Mosley: Without question, without question. They are city residents and we value all city residents.
Patterson said the city actually paved the road about 30 years ago, and agreed to pick up their garbage at central location on the street.
While neighbors ultimately want the city to take over the entire road, at the very least, they’re hoping the city will fix the crumbling retaining wall.
11 Investigates will update this story when new information becomes available.
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