Pleasant Ridge neighbors stand firm, caught between courts in redevelopment fight

CHARLESTOWN, Ind. (WDRB) -- The latest chapter in the years-long battle pitting homeowners in the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood against the city of Charlestown came Monday with an order from the Indiana Court of Appeals that left both sides claiming victory. 

Residents are fighting to block redevelopment in the Pleasant Ridge community, even as homes crumble around them.

The court found Charlestown violated its own Property Maintenance Code (PMC) in a wave of citations that forced many residents out of the neighborhood.

Rather than making repairs, landlords sold their homes to a developer under the agreement that the city would forgive the fines. It left renters to find new places to live and an influx of boarded up, blighted and abandoned homes behind in a neighborhood filled with many seniors, fixed- and low-income residents. 

"It's sad what's happened around us ... heartbreak, a lot of heartbreak," Pleasant Ridge homeowner Ellen Keith said "But when this is over, we're still going to be on this hill."

Keith has lived at the corner of Clark Road and Winthrope Avenue near the entrance to the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood for 40 years, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren live right next door. She's one of five residents, including her husband, a property ownership group and the neighborhood association, who all filed a lawsuit claiming the city's redevelopment tactics were unconstitutional. 

"In America, you shouldn't lose your home because someone politically more powerful wants to take it from you,"said  Anthony Sanders, Senior Attorney for the Institute for Justice. Sanders is part of the legal team representing Keith and her neighbors, and he views Monday's ruling from Indian's appeals court as a win for the residents. 

The court also found the city's PMC ordinance and the state's Unsafe Building Law (UBL) are in conflict and that state laws should have been followed. As a result, the temporary block on building code fines that had in many ways granted reprieve and tied Charlestown's hands was lifted, and the case was sent back to the lower court to reexamine. This left Charlestown city attorney Michael Gillenwater claiming "victory." 

"That's what this is about: providing decent housing, eliminating crime and drugs" Gillenwater said. "That's what we're trying to accomplish. That order is gone." 

Gillenwater went so far as sending a press release asserting his claim to a victory, but his opinion on the matter is in contrast to the narrative in the appeal's court's ruling. The court disagreed on the very matters the city of Charlestown sought to appeal.  

"I just feel like they're trying to deceive the public." Keith said.  

In the meantime, developer John Neace continues tearing down the properties he owns. Gillenwater said Neace has purchased roughly 200 of the 350 homes and plots of land in Pleasant Ridge. Most homeowners like the Keith family remain in the other homes. She said no matter the outcome in court, it's where she's determined to spend her final days.  

"Grayson is our funeral director, and he's the only person who will take me off this hill," Keith said.

The city of Charlestown called a special meeting of its city council for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to address the appeals court decision

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