The Fort Steuben Mall parking lot in Steubenville, Ohio is a public safety crisis — and it has been allowed to get worse with each passing season.

Since the 2022 purchase, the parking lot has been allowed to deteriorate into genuinely dangerous conditions. Massive potholes are causing tire blowouts and vehicle underbody damage. Pavement striping is largely absent — no marked lanes, no crosswalks, no organized traffic flow. Surfaces are so severely uneven that pedestrians face a real trip-and-fall risk every time they walk from their car to the door.

This is not an empty or abandoned property. Walmart, Texas Roadhouse, Aspen Dental, 7 Ranges, and multiple mall businesses operate here. Thousands of Jefferson County residents — seniors, families, and people with disabilities — visit this site regularly. Every one of them is absorbing this risk right now.

 
To Steubenville Building Inspection:

We appreciate that your department has conducted an inspection of the Fort Steuben Mall property, including its parking lot and access roads. We are asking for publicly documented records of all code violations issued, along with any notices of violation or compliance orders warranted under city ordinance. If the property does not meet minimum safety standards — and based on conditions visible to any observer, it does not — the owner must be held to a firm remediation deadline.

Someone is going to be seriously hurt. We are asking for action before that happens — not after.

 
To Total Finance:

We are aware of the public statements made on April 11, 2025, in which you told local media that Total Finance "has plans to improve the mall property and expand businesses in the mall," and on May 4, 2026, requesting six months to complete necessary repairs and redevelopment. We are holding you to both of those statements. They were made publicly, on the record, to the community this property serves.

We understand that the mall building itself requires significant attention. But the parking lot is deteriorating now, and the people of Steubenville are absorbing that risk every single day without visiting the mall itself. The building and the lot are not competing priorities — both need a plan.

We are asking Total Finance to publicly commit to a specific remediation timeline for the parking lot and access roads so this community knows what to expect and when. We call on you to immediately commission emergency asphalt and pothole repairs, restore proper pavement striping and pedestrian markings, and commit to a transparent, public completion timeline. If a comprehensive rebuild will take significant time and resources, we ask that you engage directly with the City of Steubenville about interim repairs in the meantime.

You have made your plans public. Steubenville is listening. Show us the timeline.