SEATTLE — Residents and business owners in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood say they've had enough of what they call a "nuisance property."
Neighbors say the home is the source of all sorts of problems, including gunfire.
“That camera is also a floodlight and it’s one of the first things I prioritized for safety,” said Casey Silver as he stood in his backyard pointing out one of many security cameras on his property. Silver said that safety is necessary.
“There’s been bags of human feces thrown into our yard,” said Silver.
Silver said that behavior has only become more violent. To make matters worse, the house is across from his, separated by an alley.
“We’ve had three shootings I’ve had to report, two of which in the past two weeks," said Silver. "We’ve had vandalism and theft. I mean a whole host of things centered around that property."
While KING 5 was in Silver’s backyard, there were people in the alley spray painting who threw something into a neighboring backyard. A business owner came out to ask that they stop tagging.
“People get tired of cleaning up the mess and I did get tagged today,” said David Gabel who owns Gabel’s Custom Refinishing and Upholstery.
“We don’t want to move. This is where my business has been since my dad started it in 1945,” said Gabel who's a third-generation Seattleite. His grandparents originally homesteaded in Western Washington.
Gabel said the nuisance property has been a problem for decades. It is made up of multiple homes, some now boarded up by the city,
“Needles, bodies, all of that kind of stuff has been coming out of there for 20 years,” said Gabel.
On Monday morning there was a standoff at the property with a man threatening a woman with a gun. The suspect refused to show up for his first court appearance on Tuesday.
“We have minimum expectations for any neighborhood that you live in like safety and community. Those things feel like they’ve been taken from us because of that property,” said Silver.
Silver has called the Seattle police Department more than 50 times in the last nine months.
“They’re trying and they want to do something but it just feels like their hands are tied.”
He now has a concealed carry permit, something he never thought he’d have in Seattle.
“I was like, oh, this is not something that is needed. Now I feel it’s very necessary just to be in my own neighborhood," Silver said.
According to King County Records, Betty Loft LLC took over this property in 2022. As of last week, a demolition permit was taken out with the City of Seattle.