After years of complaints and constant calls for service, city crews on Thursday boarded up a vacant Hilltop house that neighbors and officials say turned into a magnet for drug use, prostitution and squatting. The property at 2263 Shelton Street has been sealed while court proceedings continue, following a string of police and fire runs and multiple arrests, according to officials.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s Property Action Team said it secured a court order to shut the house at 2263 Shelton Street after documenting repeated nuisance activity and coordinating with the Division of Police and code enforcement, according to the City Attorney’s Office. The office said officers consistently found drug paraphernalia on the site and determined the building was being used for prostitution and unauthorized occupancy.
Police and first-responder calls
Court records and broadcast reporting show the Columbus Division of Fire answered an overdose call at the address and administered naloxone, while police arrested several people - some on outstanding warrants - during recent enforcement sweeps, as reported by WBNS. Officers also recovered shell casings after a shots-fired call in November 2024 and made additional arrests on later dates, the station reported.
Squatting, prostitution and repeated arrests
The city’s nuisance filing describes people living on the front porch and in sheds behind the house, and it notes ongoing complaints of trespassing, trash and suspected drug activity. Those conditions contributed to the property being labeled a public nuisance, Klein’s office said, according to the City Attorney’s Office. As recently as last week, the office said, officers found someone sleeping in a tent on the porch and arrested that person on an outstanding warrant.
How the shutdown works
Klein’s Property Action Team uses nuisance lawsuits in Franklin County Municipal Court’s environmental division to ask judges for temporary injunctions that allow police to board up and secure troubled properties while the legal case is pending. Local coverage has detailed how this approach has been used in similar cases, and WOSU has reported on the court’s role and how the tool can pressure owners to address code violations.
What’s next
Klein’s office said the house will stay boarded while the city and the court move the case forward, and officials told reporters that coordinated patrols and code enforcement will continue on the block, WBNS reported. City leaders say the civil enforcement strategy is meant to hold negligent property owners accountable and improve neighborhood safety while criminal investigations proceed.
