Residents in West Hill are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to keeping a pair of two-unit homes in the neighborhood.

Two property owners in West Hill want to see their two-unit homes stay intact.

Jon Slifka who owns a duplex on 329 Cloverdale Avenue  said that by buying the vacant home and refurbishing it, he made a reinvestment in the neighborhood.

"If it was not bought, fixed up, and maintained by me, it would have been abandoned or torn down, and it would have had a negative effect on the community."

He says that by keeping the conditional zoning the neighborhood wouldn't be altered in any way.

At-large councilman Jeff Fusco says both the Council and the Planning Commission will take time on the legislation to look and see if the two-unit homes are a fit for the neighborhood.

"We will go into the neighborhood, view the properties, and we asked the planning department to provide some detail as to the surrounding uses within the area," Fusco said.

Mr.Slifka says that if Council decided to make the property a single family house it would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

"It would save time and money to keep it as a two-unit which is not vacant, and the problems don't have to be re-addressed by someone else just to make it a single-family home."

He says for a property owner reconfigure a duplex into a single-family home, he or she must redo the plumbing, wiring, electric meters and other utilities.

Andrew Levitt, the owner of a two-unit home at 345 Crown Street says there are two single mothers with young children who live on the property and that it would be wrong to displace them from their school zones.

He commends Council for taking a closer look at this issue.

"I think that's a great thing and they can look at this in depth," he says.

Levitt collected over 100 signatures from residents that said that the structures should be left as they are.

Levitt says he's had to get rid of some problem tenants in the past, but says the people that live there currently are good people who don't deserve to be taken out of their living arrangement.

Jane Startzman of the West Hill Neighborhood Organization tells AkronNewsNow.com that City Council should deny the requests to convert the homes.

"Both properties were vacant for over two years, and part of the law that's on the books states that if a property is vacant for over two years in our neighborhood, it reverts back to its original usage," Startzman said.

"In this case that would be single family homes."

 The organization is concerned with the population density imbalances within West Hill, along with the crime that goes along with it.

The West Hill Neighborhood Organization collected over 130 signatures asking Council to deny the property stay as two-unit residences.

Nancy Smith says overcrowding in the neighborhood is a real problem for both residents and realtors alike.

"The problem of population density in the West Hill neighborhood has not gone away, and we will continue to try to protect and preserve this neighborhood.

There is no set timetable for Council to vote on keeping the two-unit buildings as such.