SANTA ANA : City Kills 1 Housing Law, OKs Code Guide
The final part of what was to be a package of three city ordinances mandating neighborhood cleanup has been scrapped because the proposed new rules already exist in city codes, city officials said Tuesday.
The once-touted “neighborhood standards” ordinance would have required homeowners and landlords to mow their lawns, paint their houses, fix broken windows and make other repairs to their property.
“When we looked through the proposals and what was desired, we determined that existing codes pretty much take care of everything,” City Atty. Edward J. Cooper said.
Instead of a new law, the city staff is developing a reference guide for code inspectors that would list all the codes that regulate deteriorated properties.
But neighborhood activists said they would compare existing laws with the early drafts of the proposed ordinance to make sure the controls they are seeking have been addressed. They added that they would press the city to follow up with an enforcement program.
Pointing to lawns that look like deserts and houses in need of fresh coats of paint, neighborhood activist Guy Ball wondered why the codes had not been previously enforced if they already exist.
“We are not asking for Irvine-kind of regulations. We are just asking for basic keeping your house and yard tidy.”
Mike Brajdic, president of the Historic French Park Assn., added: “We saw it (the ordinance) as a step in the right direction because there needs to be some controls on absentee landlords.”
Jim Lindgren, manager of the city’s Building Safety Department, said the existing laws should take care of most of the concerns expressed by homeowner associations.
“We will probably, in some cases, ask for amendments to the codes,” Lindgren said. “But in most cases, yes, we can (enforce property maintenance) as we have been doing all along.”
The new code-enforcement manual is expected to be reviewed by the City Council in February, Lindgren said.
Washington Square Neighborhood Assn. President Mike Sasso also suggested that the city begin a loan or rebate program to encourage property owners to make repairs that have been delayed because they are too costly.
“It’s the broken-window theory,” Sasso said. “You leave it broken and then another one gets broken before too long.”
The first two ordinances in the city’s three-pronged approach to neighborhood cleanup were approved last spring and summer by the council.
In the first measure, the city attempted to set minimum square-footage requirements to limit the number of people who can live in each house or apartment.
Neighborhood preservationists argued that overcrowded dwellings place too much stress on the infrastructure and lead to neighborhood decay.
But immigrant-rights activists challenged the ordinance in court, and the 4th District Court of Appeal has delayed enforcement of the regulations until it issues a decision.
Under the second neighborhood standards ordinance, the number of licensed pushcart vendors was reduced and their operations placed under strict guidelines, including increased monitoring, requiring vendors to wear uniforms, and prohibiting clanging bells that annoyed neighborhood residents.
