City officials have taken some action to demonstrate that they have heard neighborhood complaints about run-down homes in north Delridge.

Seattle City Council members Sally Clark and Tim Burgess, Stella Chao, director of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and Diane Sugimara, director of DPD, joined Delridge resident MIke Dady and other members of the Delridge neighborhood on a tour of several dilapidated properties.

After more than a year of working with the Southwest Police Precinct and reporting to Seattle's Department of Planning and Development (DPD), Dady has grown tired of complaining about the vacant homes in his North Delridge.

"These houses sit there and cause nothing but problems," said Dady at a Delridge District Council Meeting on March 19. "They are not providing shelter in any safe or sane way."

And he's not alone in his frustration. A number of neighbors joined Dady on the tour to testify how the abandoned, run-down homes in their neighborhood as a drain on the local community.

"These vacant and distressed properties always are at the back of your mind as a neighbor," says local resident Lisa Keith. "My older son doesn't feel completely at ease on his otherwise safe street--he's seen too many police cars and too many folks high or drunk on the property."

According to residents in the area, these vacant houses tend to attract vagrants camping out or become dumping grounds for abandoned items and stolen cars. But besides being an eyesore in the community residents also report incidents of drug dealing and other illegal activities on such properties.

The Skylark Cafe and Club is located directly across the street from a house that has been vacant, and largely unsalvageable, for twenty years. Owner Jessie SK, and her employees, have seen young people repeatedly camping out and have a hard time explaining the eyesore to their customers.

What's more, there is reason to believe that those illegally hanging out at the house may be responsible for a break in at the Skylark in mid-February. Jessie explained that the alarm was tripped right after she and her husband left for the night, so the culprit likely knew their work habits and that it didn't seem like a very "professional job."

Owners of many of these homes have shown a general disinterest in the activities happening on their properties, and most don’t live nearby. Four of the five vacant homes that Dady pointed out on Friday’s tour are not owned by West Seattle residents.

Dady explained to the group that the many different languages and cultures in his neighborhood have prevented other residents from these vacant homes. He says that many of his neighbors have come to him for help, but that he cannot take on the problem by himself.

"People don't know what to do," Dady said.

Upon hearing this concern, Chao and Jennifer Duong from the Department of Neighborhoods quickly offered their translation services to talk with members of the community. One person they will contact is a Vietnamese man who just purchased one of the vacant, and potentially unsalvageable, home that Dady showed the group.

"He has no idea what he's gotten himself into," Dady said about the man. "He bought himself a big pile of problems."

All of the properties on the tour were boarded up, one by Dady himself, but local residents say this is only a temporary solution and that, usually, it is not long before the boards are torn down by people looking to camp inside.

One obstacle in cleaning up these properties and preventing illegal activities are the limited rights DPD inspection agents and police officers have to enter the property. If they do not have permission from the property owner and cannot see a crime occurring, police officers cannot enter a vacant home.

Inspection agents also require the owner's permission to enter the premises.

Burgess said that the council had been discussing changing inspection laws as well as some significant amendments to public nuisance laws.

He added that one immediate solution would be to educate police on how they can document unsafe housing conditions once they are inside a residence, because illegal activities do not give DPD the right to inspect a home.

Another challenge stems from the requirements necessary to demolish a home. For one, if a home is going to be demolished the property owner must have a permit addressing what the land will be used for next.

Please click on the image above to view all photos from the tour.