Court Ruling Clears Way for City to Address Abandoned Property

The only things slowing down City of Centralia workers as they clean up a long-decrepit property are the decaying housewares buried under a decade’s worth of dense brush.

A dozen years after 1222 St. Helens Ave. earned a place on former police chief Bob Berg’s “Dirty Dozen” list, Centralia Municipal Court Judge James Buzzard issued a ruling of abatement on Tuesday, allowing the city to clear and clean everything but the structure itself.

Neighbors watched Thursday morning with a mix of relief and glee as workers used a backhoe and other heavy machinery to carve out swatches of brambles and weeds from the property owned and abandoned by Joan Sittko.

Some monitored the progress by driving laps around the block on their riding lawn mowers. 

Work had to stop for about an hour when the blades of an industrial-strength mower jammed after hitting a mattress stashed in the overgrowth.

“When the city called me Wednesday, I started crying,” said Debbie Tiblow, whose backyard runs parallel to the uninhabited parcel of land. “It’s been an emotional stress for me for a long time. If I had ever left a home like that, I would be so ashamed. I wouldn’t ever come in the neighborhood.”

The property has long been more than just an eyesore for residents of Centralia’s Logan District.

Barbara Beck, who has lived across the street at 1303 Lincoln St. since 1981, blames Sittko’s neglect for an ongoing rodent problem in her home and others in the area.

She said she watched on June 1 as Sittko, who is in her mid-70s, tried with an elderly man to post for-sale signs on the property.

The pair reportedly fell into the bushes while trying to make their way to the house. Beck heard their cries for help and called 911. Medics responded and helped the pair to safety.

The couple did not leave any signs behind and did not respond to phone messages from The Chronicle seeking comment.

“They almost made it to the porch,” Beck said. “Neither one could get back up. They were cut up pretty badly when they got pulled out of there.”

Centralia City Attorney Shannon Murphy-Olson pursued the order of abatement as part of a long-running legal process that is likely to move to Lewis County Superior Court later this summer, she said. 

Sittko pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor nuisance violation on June 20 of last year. Buzzard told her at the time that she had until October to address the property or potentially face more serious charges.

Murphy-Olson said that while the city could pursue a gross misdemeanor charge later this year, it wouldn’t make sense to do so.

“She has very little money and she’s not a person we’re particularly interested in putting in jail,” Murphy-Olson said. “What we’re looking for is a resolution to the nuisance.”

The municipal court order issued by Buzzard does not allow the city to level the house or remove its contents.

Large portions of the roof have rotted and are covered by sagging tarps. Windows are blocked by towering stacks of furniture and other household items.

The city would need a favorable ruling from Lewis County Superior Court to address and potentially raze the structure.

“I would anticipate going to (Superior Court) soon to say that we’ve gone as far as we can at the local level,” Murphy-Olson said. “Maybe as quickly as within the next couple of weeks.”

The city can also place liens on the property for costs incurred by the cleanup effort. 

Beck said a local developer recently offered Sittko $30,000 but she wasn’t interested.

The Lewis County Assessor’s Office considers Sittko’s parcel to be worth $24,100. It was assessed for more than twice that amount in 2010. 

She also owes $488.20 in unpaid property taxes. 

Beck’s property has an assessed value of $73,800, down from a high of $82,700 in 2010. 

She sought legal advice on whether she could file a civil suit to recoup her losses, but was dissuaded from doing so.

“Relief will come when it’s all on the ground,” Beck said. “That will be our ‘hip hip, hooray’ moment.”