Recommendation to request City Manager to explore the feasibility of a citywide Vacant Lot Registry Ordinance that would address the blight of privately-owned, neglected vacant lots throughout the City of Long Beach.
Item 16. Item 16. Yes. We have a report from Diana Tang. Item pasta. Ready? Item 16, Madam Clerk. We had it. We had a report. Item 16 is communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember, your UNGA councilman, and Austin recommendation to request the city manager to explore the feasibility of a citywide vacant lot registry ordinance that would address the line of privately owned, neglected vacant lots. Councilor Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It was maybe five years ago in 2011, when the city council passed revisions to the when we created a foreclosure registry program that required all residential properties that were issued a notice of default to be registered within our city. This was a successful program for a number of reasons. It generated revenue to support nuisance abatement code enforcement activities, and it held banks accountable and it significantly, significantly improved the issues we were having with vacant, abandoned, foreclosed properties around that time. Upon registration, the program requires a registration fee and a registration form to be renewed annually as long as that property remained in foreclosure. And so the goal of this program, I envision a similar program for vacant lots throughout our city to ensure that property owners are held accountable for the upkeep of these lots. I envision there are a number of elements that could go into this one, some level of monitoring. Two annual updates. Vacant lots, lots offered in calls, numerous problems for our neighborhoods surrounding them, including illegal dumping, graffiti, criminal activity, and generally having an unsafe and unhealthy condition. Many times vacant lots have habitual code enforcement violations due to failure to maintain those requirements, and this could potentially protect our community's public health and safety and welfare by requiring the maintenance of these items. So there are a number of cities who have taken this step. So there are models in Pasadena, Monterey Park and Jersey City, the given. So we had engaged in this conversation with city staff a number of months ago. But given the agenda item a week ago or so about potentially utilizing vacant lots for agriculture, there was a conversation that I had with Councilmember Gonzales that now might be the time to bring an item like this forward. So in this in this potential report, I'd like to see the potential fee structure. I'd like to better understand the feasibility of adding some enhanced maintenance standards to these vacant lot, such as improved fencing, landscaping, so on and so forth, and potential for this program to perhaps intersect with other program beautification programs we might have in the city, like the work that we're doing around urban agriculture. And I urge a yes vote. Thank you. Okay. Any public comment? Seeing none back to the floor from your. I want to thank and Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward. It's obviously a creative way of dealing with our blight in the city with the absence and the going away of redevelopment, that this is a better way to deal with those empty lot. So I, I support. Councilman Andrews. I also would like to thank our council for bringing this item for this has been a struggle, you know, keep some of these large frequent legal dumping items, but they tend to be a magnet that attracts more dumping items and adds to the visible blight in our community and needs much more done by some of the certainly some of the property owners. And I think if we really took those steps, I think a lot of these things could be cleaned up. And thank you again, Councilman Richardson. For bringing this. Councilman Gonzales. Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. I know we spoke about this a couple of weeks ago as he brought forward the incentive program for urban agriculture. And looking at lots, we thought it'd be a bigger discussion to look at vacant lots as a whole. And so I'm also looking forward to the feasibility to see how it is that we can implement something similar or at least record the vacant lots we have, if anything. So thank you very much. Concern, Austin. Yes. I'd like to join and just thank you for bringing this forward and allowing me to sign on with this that I'm in full support. I see this as an opportunity to to register the lots, but not necessarily. Of course, we want to eliminate blight in the all the negative that comes with these vacant lots. But I think it's an opportunity for us to actually see where our opportunities are, right, in terms of new housing, economic development, etc.. And we can we can work strategically as a city to, to, to, to, to work on those and assist those property owners in moving those properties in the right direction. So happily, sign on. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries 19, removing the 19. What we're doing now.