Long Beach wants to improve enforcement of vacant, nuisance property regulations – Press Telegram

Property owners with vacant storefronts or properties in Long Beach could soon face tougher code enforcement. The council is looking at ways to hold absentee landlords accountable for properties that have become a nuisance while vacant.

Council members this week asked city staff to prepare an ordinance that would add improvements to the municipal code to ensure property owners comply with code enforcement rules and that vacant lots and empty storefronts are kept safe until they are developed or leased become.

“What I have heard time and time again is the serious impact that nuisance properties and vacant lots and storefronts have on the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” said Councilmember Mary Zendejas, who made the point along with Councilmembers Megan Kerr and Al Austin.

“Across the city, there are a number of properties that neighbors fear will be a nuisance, cause damage and, in isolated cases, cause serious harm such as preventable fires,” Zendejas said.

It’s clear the city’s enforcement ordinance needs to be updated and loopholes filled, she added.

“We need to find a balance that both incentivizes owners and prohibits measures that prevent nuisances,” Zendejas said during the Tuesday, Oct. 8, council meeting.

Long Beach code enforcement within the Community Development Department ensures that the quality of life in the neighborhood is maintained through the proper maintenance of private properties and the timely removal of public nuisances or unauthorized construction.

However, according to the staff report, Long Beach still faces numerous enforcement and quality of life challenges in various neighborhoods, with more than 280 vacant lots and a larger number of vacant storefronts and buildings in the city.

“The City’s existing tools to address these challenges are inadequate, and in recent years, vacant land and structures have become the source of nuisances and criminal activity,” the staff report states, “as well as the source of dozens of fires that resulted in significant damage .” Impact on fire department resources.”

Long Beach has previously tried to hold property owners accountable for vacant storefronts and properties. In 2022, the City Council examined the feasibility of a fee or tax program for vacant commercial properties. The city has also examined incentives, zoning changes, adaptive reuse, homeless assistance, taxes, fees and other measures to address commercial vacancies in downtown Long Beach.

In December 2023, the Department of Community Development completed a review of its regulations and code enforcement procedures. The department also reviewed the vacancy program implemented in Seattle and sought input from law enforcement staff and the Long Beach Fire Department, the staff report said.

To improve the approach to code enforcement, staff said there are several mechanisms the city can take.

Some of these approaches include:

–Update code enforcement regulations to capture property rights violations and work with lenders and other intermediaries to bring properties into compliance;

–Review feeds related to the vacant land and vacant building monitoring program to ensure full cost recovery, adequate staffing and monitoring, and possibly a staggered increase in fines over time; And

–Expand the city’s ability to issue criminal citations and seek civil remedies.

“We really appreciate good property owners who work with us, who respond to our call and ask them to do something,” Kerr said. “A lot of them do, that’s definitely the case. But we know that the current system does not work for everyone and is not the perfect model.”

Property owners should be able to maintain their property so that it does not cause damage or safety concerns, she added.

While it’s important to hold property owners accountable and improve code enforcement, Councilor Suely Saro said they also shouldn’t take a punitive approach. She said the city also needs to figure out how to work with property owners who are unable to fill lots and storefronts.

“While we will achieve enforcement,” Saro said, “at some point we will have to occupy these vacant properties and support the micro-entrepreneurs as they get started there.”

In public comment, the majority of residents expressed support for a stricter ordinance to enforce the city’s vacant property regulations. Many reported their difficult experiences dealing with abandoned buildings and vacant lots in their neighborhoods that accumulated trash, attracted vermin, and posed other safety concerns.

“We love what you do here and we want to actively support you,” said Leanna Noble, a Long Beach resident. “We just ask that you and staff consider adding language to your goals that is about neighborhood safety and health, because blight doesn’t come close to covering what the crisis here is about. We would also like you to consider increasing equity as a goal.”

There were also representatives from property owners who said they would like to work with the city to find ways to deal with these vacant properties.

“Obviously our industry has suffered from significant vacancy issues, and we just want to ensure that vacancy enforcement measures do not trap bona fide property owners,” said Blake Perez, director of government and public affairs for Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles.

“We want to make sure the language is written in a way that balances the need for community enforcement tools,” he said, “but can also help and support property owners who are trying to fill spaces.”

Perez said vacancies are often caused by economic conditions. Local ordinances or regulations may also hinder the type of business that wants to move into the property.

“We’re asking to be able to continue to work together to develop policy that threads that needle and continues to incentivize and fill those gaps and give time for those incentives to happen,” he said, “and provide the community with the tools.” to address some of these more challenging areas.”

The City Council voted 7-0, with Council members Roberto Uranga and Joni Ricks-Oddie absent, to agree that city staff will prepare an ordinance to create stricter enforcement of regulations on vacant storefronts and properties in Long Beach .

City staff also were asked to report to the Economic Development and Opportunity Committee on the effectiveness of programs and controls to ensure vacant properties are addressed to prevent blight.

“This is a citywide issue that we are facing, and every single one of us has experienced this in our districts,” Zendejas said.

“One of the things I would encourage city staff to do as we investigate this is to figure out what causes some of our absentee landlords to be absent,” she said. “What can we do as a city to make sure they work together? We need to work together and bring everyone to the table and make sure that as a city we also provide resources that help everyone, but also that we listen to our residents.”