TUSTIN : City to Improve Southwest Area
The City Council approved several recommendations Monday night aimed at improving conditions in the city’s southwest area.
“This is only another step. We’re moving in the direction we knew we must to solve this problem,” Mayor Richard B. Edgar said.
City officials pointed to an increase in crime, graffiti and code violations in the last few years in the southwest area.
The recommendations include creating an interdepartmental team and revising city ordinances to allow more aggressive enforcement in problem spots, particularly the Cosmopolitan Luxury Apartments.
The city’s budget, adopted Monday night, includes the addition of a full-time code enforcement officer who will support the team. Code enforcement is now handled on a complaint basis only, but the new officer will be able to make inspections on a more regular basis.
The council directed staff members to prepare ordinances so that they can bypass time-consuming procedures necessary to declare a property a public nuisance and issue infraction citations to code violators.
In addition, the council told the staff to put together a report on the cost of a graffiti-removal program and an apartment-inspection program.
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