Property owners with vacant storefronts and vacant lots in Long Beach could soon face stricter regulations. City councils are exploring ways to hold absentee landlords accountable for properties left vacant and a nuisance.
City Council members told city staff this week that the city ordinance includes enhancements to ensure property owners comply with code enforcement regulations and ensure that vacant lots and storefronts are safely stored until developed or leased. requested that an ordinance be prepared to revise the law.
“What I have heard over and over again is that junk properties, vacant lots and storefronts have a serious impact on the quality of life in neighborhoods,” said Councilwoman Mary Zendejas, who proposed the item. Rep. Megan said. Carr and Al Austin.
“There are a number of properties across the city that neighbors are concerned are a nuisance, a source of blight and, in the case of curtains, serious damage, including preventable fires,” Zendejas said. .
She added that it’s clear the city’s code enforcement ordinance needs to be updated and loopholes need to be closed.
“We have to find a balance between incentivizing owners and prohibiting nuisance prevention measures at the same time,” Zendejas said at the council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Long Beach Code Enforcement within the Community Development Authority ensures that the quality of life in neighborhoods is maintained through the proper maintenance of private property and timely resolution of public nuisances and unauthorized construction.
But Long Beach still faces many enforcement and quality-of-life challenges in various neighborhoods, with more than 280 vacant lots in the city and many more vacant storefronts and buildings, according to a staff report. It is said that there is.
“The City’s existing tools to address these challenges are inadequate, and in recent years, vacant lots and structures have become a source of nuisance and criminal activity,” the staff report states. Impacts fire department resources. ”
The city of Long Beach has previously considered making property owners responsible for vacant storefronts and vacant lots. In 2022, the City Council considered the feasibility of a fee or tax program for vacant commercial properties. The city is also considering incentives, rezoning, 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 Code Enforcement Ordinance and Procedures. The department also reviewed the Vacant Buildings Program in place in Seattle and sought input from law enforcement officials and members of the Long Beach Fire Department, according to a staff report.
Officials say there are several mechanisms the city can employ to strengthen its code enforcement approach.
These approaches include:
– Update code enforcement orders to document violations of title and work with lenders and other intermediaries to bring properties into compliance.
– Review feeds related to vacant land and vacant building monitoring programs to ensure full recovery of costs, adequate staffing and oversight, and the possibility of incremental fines increasing over time. and
– Expanding the City’s ability to issue criminal complaints and secure civil remedies.
“We’re really grateful to the good property owners who are working with us and answering our calls and asking us to do things,” Kerr said. “Many of them do, that’s true. But we know that the current system doesn’t work for everyone and it’s not a perfect model.”
Property owners need to be able to maintain their properties in a way that does not pose blight or safety concerns, she added.
While holding property owners accountable and improving code enforcement is important, Councilor Suely Salo said a punitive approach should also not be taken. She said the city also needs to think about how to work with property owners who can’t fill their lots or storefronts.
“We will enforce it, but at some point we need to fill these vacant properties and from there we need to support small business owners,” Salo said.
During public comment, a majority of residents voted in favor of an ordinance that would strengthen code enforcement for vacant buildings in the city. Many people shared their difficult experiences with abandoned buildings and vacant lots in their neighborhoods that were accumulating trash, attracting vermin and other safety concerns.
“We love what you’re doing here and we want to actively support it,” said Long Beach resident Leanna Noble. “We ask you and your staff to consider adding language to your goals that talks about community safety and health, because epidemics don’t even begin to cover what the crisis is here. Self. I would like you to consider additional capital as a goal.”
There were also representatives of property owners who said they would like to work with the city on measures to deal with vacant homes.
“Obviously, our industry is suffering from a serious vacancy problem, and we just want to make sure that vacancy enforcement measures do not trap well-intentioned property owners,” the Greater Building Owners and Managers Association said. said Blake Perez, director of government communications. Los Angeles.
“We want to make sure the language is written in a way that balances the need for community enforcement tools, but also helps and supports property owners who are trying to fill spaces. ” he said.
Perez said vacancies are often caused by economic conditions. Local ordinances and ordinance requirements may also prohibit the types of businesses that wish to occupy the facility.
“We ask that we continue to work together to develop policies that continue to thread the needle and incentivize these spaces and give us time to fill these spaces and give us time for those incentives to materialize. ” he said. Tackle some of these more difficult areas. ”
The City Council voted 7-0, with council members Roberto Uranga and Joni Ricks Oddy absent, for city staff to prepare an ordinance that would provide stronger code enforcement for vacant storefronts and land in Long Beach. I approved that.
City staff were also asked to report to the Economic Development and Opportunity Committee on the effectiveness of programs and management to ensure vacant properties are blight-proofed.
“This is a city-wide issue that we are facing, and each and every one of us is experiencing this in our own district,” Zendejas said.
“One of the things I would encourage city staff to do as they look into this issue is find out the reasons behind some of the absentee landlords being absent,” she said. “What can we do as a city to make sure that we’re collaborative? We work together to bring everyone to the table and as a city we provide resources that help everyone, but also that we listen to what our residents have to say. We also need to listen.”
