‘Neighborhood Standards’ Laws Debated : Rights: Some in Santa Ana say the proposed ordinances governing living conditions and pushcart vendors are sorely needed, but others sense racism.

Clanging pushcarts, unpainted houses and overcrowded homes may soon be history in Santa Ana.

After years of complaints from neighborhood associations, city officials want to enact three new ordinances that would set “neighborhood standards” and help clean up the city.

In one ordinance, pushcart vendors would be banned except for certain downtown streets. In another ordinance, overcrowding in houses and apartments would be outlawed. A third ordinance would require homeowners to trim their lawns and make sure the exterior paint isn’t peeling.

The council is scheduled to vote on the proposed ordinances in upcoming meetings.

Neighborhood associations say it’s about time the city cracked down on residents who don’t know how to keep their homes and neighborhoods in shape. But some community activists say the neighborhood standards unfairly focus on Latinos.

The ordinances are needed to keep neighborhoods from decaying, said Guy Ball, a spokesman for the Wilshire Square Neighborhood Assn. The ordinances would allow code enforcement inspectors and the police to cite homeowners who neglect their properties and vendors who disrupt neighborhoods. City officials say penalties are still to be worked out.

“It’s tougher to care for the place you live in if it looks like a pigsty,” Ball said.

City officials say dirty and noisy pushcarts and overcrowded and blighted houses push down property values. The council has already outlawed outdoor swap meets because of complaints about trash and excessive traffic.

Mayor Daniel H. Young says the city has been “overwhelmed” by pushcart vendors, overcrowded dwellings and homeowners who don’t repair their properties.

“You can’t have 50 people living in a single-family house and 50 cars parked outside of it,” Young said. “There’s an overload of trash that comes along with pushcart vendors. And there are homeowners who refuse to fix up their houses. These standards address these problems. It is a matter of being able to live in the city.”

But some community leaders say they fear that the proposed measures are aimed at Latinos, who now make up 65% of the city’s population, according to the latest Census figures.

In the pushcart trade, Latinos make up most of the work force. And the proposed measures on property maintainance and overcrowding could adversely affect those who live in neighborhoods that have the lowest rents in the city.

“There’s a lot of strictness geared toward one set of people,” said Latino activist Rueben Martinez, former treasurer for the county’s Democratic Club. “With all these restrictions, it causes nothing but problems. You’re going to have people fighting among themselves in the city.”

Martinez said some portions of the proposed ordinances are good, such as the requirement to keep up residential property. But, he said, others do not give residents alternatives. He cited a requirement of at least 150 square feet of space for a dwelling occupied by two people, and 100 square feet for each additional person.

“Where are all these people going to go?” he asked. “There’s no housing for them. There’s no follow-through. Housing is on the bottom of the list. They ought to put on their thinking caps and seek advice instead.”

Councilman John Acosta says the new regulations, particularly those on pushcarts and the swap meet, are “anti-Hispanic” because Latinos depend on them for employment.

“It’s a minority-bashing program,” Acosta said. “That’s the kind of perception I get.”

But Michael Sasso, president of the Washington Square Neighborhood Assn., says the standards are not directed at any particular ethnic group.

“These are not racial standards, these are human standards,” Sasso said. “We all live in Santa Ana and we all have to respect each other’s property. Any degeneration on any property is a reflection on the whole city. We all have a responsibility here.”

Critics also say the ordinances resemble the codes in some South County cities that regulate property maintainance and building design. Laguna Beach, for example, has a design review board that regulates such issues as what color a house should be painted.

However, Robyn Uptegraff, executive director of the Santa Ana’s Planning and Building Agency, says the her city’s proposed property maintainance standard is less stringent. The standard would not regulate paint color but it would outlaw overgrown vegetation and clothes lines on balcony railings.

Neighborhood associations do not want harsher restrictions, Ball said.

“We don’t want to put regulations on antennas and other stuff like that,” Ball said. “But we do want basic ‘take care of your house and don’t abuse your neighborhood’ laws.”

SANTA ANA’S PROPOSED STANDARDS

In a bid to clean up Santa Ana, the City Council will consider three ordinances that would establish what proponents call “neighborhood standards” and address several key problems:

* PUSHCARTS--This ordinance would bar pushcarts and pedestrian vendors everywhere in the city except for certain downtown streets. Vendors would have to be licensed by the county Health Care Agency, obtain a Santa Ana business license and receive approval from police and the city’s development agency. Violators would be subject to fine or jail.

* OVERCROWDING--This ordinance would bar overcrowding of dwellings. Any dwelling unit with two occupants would have to have at least 150 square feet of living space, excluding stairwells, halls, closets, bathrooms and kitchens. An additional 100 square feet would have to be allotted to any additional occupant. Violators would be subject to fine or jail.

* MAINTENANCE--This ordinance would require that homeowners and landlords maintain their properties. It would be unlawful for owners to have broken windows, unpainted buildings, clotheslines on balcony railings, discarded furniture on property for more than three days, or overgrown vegetation. Code enforcement inspectors would cite violators.

Los Angeles Times