The Syracuse Common Council Public Safety Committee on Monday hosted a meeting focused on one issue — Skyline Apartments.

A city document was presented, outlining actions taken since 2018 by the police and fire departments, the city’s legal department, codes and more.

The seven-page document details Supreme Court petitions, meetings, violations and fines issued, police department investigations and more.

Still, the city’s response to the problems at 753 James Street was questioned.

“Given that those actions were available to you, what was the delay in implementing some of those practices?” asked Syracuse Common Councilor Ronnie White.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens echoed a sentiment Mayor Ben Walsh continues to say following the murder of 93-year-old Connie Tuori, that the city and its legal counsel were trying to address management’s neglect without displacing residents in the 364-unit building.

Owens explained that when the city typically uses a nuisance abatement notice, it leads to the closure of a building and the relocation of residents.

“How could we actually peal apart the law to be able to use that law in a manner that we could get the result we wanted from the owner while not displacing the tenants? And that’s when we came up with declaring the common spaces unfit,” said Owens.

Codes Enforcement Director Jake Dishaw firmly stood his ground on behalf of his department, saying its goal is compliance, which was achieved many times.

“We take it very seriously if we have to deem something unfit for human occupancy. It’s not the number one option, but sometimes it reaches that point,” said Dishaw.

Since 2018, there have been more than 900 code violations at the Green National property.

Currently, there are eight open complaint cases and 19 open violations.

Syracuse Corporation Counsel Kristen Smith said the law department is looking into a provision of the Property Conservation Code that can possibly elevate action to a criminal level.

“We are trying to take a closer look at some of those issues with our partners at other level of government,” said Smith.

Owens said the mayor’s proposed high-occupancy monitoring and enforcement (HOME) unit will be focused on taking proactive measures in monitoring larger properties.

The unit will be comprised of members from departments of fire, police, law, neighborhood and business development and code enforcement.

Spectrum News made contact with Troy Green of Green National, but he did not respond to our request for an interview.