West Hollywood is taking a more aggressive stance on vacant properties through its comprehensive Vacant Property Program, with the City Council considering updates and enhancements to ensure the program’s effectiveness and responsiveness to current urban management needs. The upcoming Council meeting will focus on evaluating the progress of the Vacant Property Program and discussing the adoption of an ordinance aimed at amending existing codes to bolster the maintenance and security standards for vacant properties across the city.
Introduced in December 2019, the Vacant Property Registration Program requires the classification of all vacant properties into one of four categories — Stable, At-Risk, Problematic, or Failed — based on their condition. This categorization directly influences the fee structure, which aims to recuperate costs associated with routine inspections and emergency responses, encouraging property owners to maintain their properties adequately.
The enforcement track record from March 2021 to February 2024 shows that 101 administrative citations have been issued under the Vacant Property Ordinance, accumulating fines of $179,825, alongside $51,000 in penalties.
The upcoming council deliberations will also address the success and challenges of the Vacant Property Program, as staff present updates and insights on its operation. This includes an analysis of the 53 current vacant property cases, categorized by their respective statuses and locations, offering a detailed perspective on the program’s reach and enforcement activities.
These amendments Council is looking at aim to refine security requirements for properties, particularly those at an ‘At-Risk’ level, and address the maintenance and security of construction site amenities, such as portable restrooms.
Council will also direct staff to collaborate with the City Attorney’s Office on developing an alternate mechanism for authorizing or mandating the demolition of vacant properties that are problematic or have failed. This initiative stems from concerns over properties being misused by trespassers, potentially leading to safety risks and community disturbances.
Further recommendations include revising operational requirements within the construction management ordinance to align with the vacant property ordinance’s security protocols, ensuring comprehensive oversight across all property-related activities within the city.
The slow march towards communism. Private property should be private property. A bunch of dimwits on a city council.
Not when when it becomes a rodent infested eyesore for the community, sweetheart. 😉
Not when it becomes a rodent infested eyesore for the community, sweetheart. 😉
It’s socialistic, like most of our culture. Once you allow your property to become a clear and present danger to your neighborhood, governments should be able to act as to encourage you to fix that. If you won’t, you’ll find out that no rights are absolute. Each comes with responsibility.
This is very good publicity for the city. Almost as if the city is trying to make us all forget how the city manager, code enforcement director and human resource director ignored resident calls about a loud party at their frequently visited location. Or as if they want us to forget about David Wilson and Janet Jimenez encouraging double dipping of Oscar Delgado.
Weho, we won’t forget.
https://wehoonline.com/2024/01/22/dear-weho-%f0%9f%93%ac-work-city-hall-change-needed/
Our neighborhood has a problem with one property that is filled with trash and the city has done NOTHING about it after years of complaints. They are useless.
Very glad the council is addressing this.
They have no choice but to address it.
Thank you for waking up.
Actually, I thought that was what you were supposed to have done in the first place.
Good for the City.
Doing the right thing.
So, they go after the individual homeowner property owners, but they do absolutely nothing about the vacant commercial storefronts that make the city look derelict and like a ghetto, because the city council is beholden to the greedy greedy landlords who own the commercial properties. They pick on whoever they think they can pick on, and let the greedy landlords take the tax write-off while our city has vacant storefronts that are just as much of a hazard as the vacant homes are. But that’s “leadership” from those incompetent grifters.
They need to go after both, come to a city council meeting and say exactly what you typed here. If you don’t come to a meeting to be heard by the officials you’re just screaming into the interwebs. Make your voice count for something and show up.
This is a good thing. I’m happy to hear the Council is working on this.
Can this discussion also include what the city can do to enhance the leasing of empty commercial buildings? Most landlords are asking rents which they know are unaffordable and then using these empty properties as tax write-offs. While all these buildings remain empty, they attract the homeless and crime, and our residential real estate values decline. The city should approve legislation that fines, on a sliding scale after a certain amount of time, these landlords to force them to lease properties at reasonable rates. This would allow the small businesses that have made WEHO such an interesting place to live… Read more »