Salinas City Council tackling blight and vacant buildings

The Salinas City Council is considering an ordinance to deal with blight – including vacant buildings and eye-sore properties.

The ordinance would impose a set of penalties, from warnings, to fines, and even possible takeover, on properties that do not comply with city standards.

The ordinance was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, but was pushed back to next week because of changed wording over vacant buildings needing the contact information of their owner.

Salinas City Councilman Steve McShane says these buildings can lead to multiple issues, and the ordinance would compel people to clean them up.

“People neglect their property, and impose on adjacent property, health and safety issues,” McShane said.

But businessman Sal Jimenez says it is not that simple. While he supports the idea of revitalization, he says the city needs to clean the streets before he and other buildings owners should be forced to improve their properties.

“If they are asking us to clean up our backyard, well, I’m asking them to clean up our city. Then, I’ll go and invest in there. He adds, they are beating us down on our buildings. Really? I’ve had vandalism and break-ins, and it has cost us money to do this.”

The ordinance would give the city power to “condemn and destroy” buildings that were out of code and not cooperating with the city.

“People can lose their property if they do not address health and safety concerns,” McShane said.

This isn’t just vacant buildings. The ordinance also says occupied homes and business are subject to these rules.

However, Councilman Scott Davis told KION over the phone, Tuesday, that small issues with residential properties are not a major concern. People will be told of their violation before a formal warning is given.