Olean residents relieved after removal of ‘dangerous’ burned property

For six years, residents of E. Fall Road have been complaining about the unkempt remains of a burned home, with even city leaders acknowledging it as dangerous. Now, the city is finally addressing the property.

"It's a reflection on our neighborhood, but it's also a hazard," Sue Mikolajczyk, a resident of E. Fall Rd told WKBW in August. "Someone could fall in there and get killed. The floor is demolished, and so there's water in the basement, and when it gets warm, the neighbors up the street can smell the water, so it's very unpleasant."

"You come into town, there's a 'Welcome to Olean' sign up there, and then you look across the street, and this mess is sitting here," another resident, Bob Franz, said at the time. "It's embarrassing. It really is, but more than that, it's dangerous."

The fire that destroyed the property was in June 2020. Residents had also expressed frustration in trying to get answers from the City of Olean.

"It's been six years, and if they have it their way, it'll be another six years," Tom Morgan told WKBW in August. "Nothing has happened, and now we're into this year, and they're still playing games."

At the time, Olean Mayor Amy Sherburne told WKBW in a statement that the city was aware of the property and described its condition as "unacceptable." Sherburne added that difficulty with the property stemmed from

"no cooperation or communication with the owner in quite some time."

However, following WKBW's initial reporting, the property owner began to acknowledge the property. Over the past several weeks, the remaining property has been demolished. The basement, which had been a primary concern for neighbors, was filled in as well.

"The minute I stepped into office, there's a lot of things to contend with, but that was something that was on my radar that we needed to push forward with," Sherburne told WKBW on Thursday. "So I'm happy to report that the owners finally made a connection with us."

"Maybe that article in fact was the thing that spurred them on, and just this past week they did demolish it, and it'll be graded," Sherburne said.

WATCH: Olean residents relieved after removal of dangerous burned property

Morgan expressed a similar relief.

"They're (Morgan's neighbors) like me; they're thinking, well, it's about time," Morgan told WKBW on Tuesday. "And as I said, without your help, we'd probably be going a little bit longer."

Morgan continued, "They want that property to look just as nice, which I don't blame them because you gotta have some pride, and when you come into the City of Olean, you don't wanna see an eyesore."

Morgan said that some debris remains, but it is expected to be removed from the property in the coming weeks.