The City of Antioch anticipates wrapping up the 6th Street homeless encampment cleanup sometime on Wednesday according to Code Enforcement.
The effort, which began Monday morning at 6th Street and McElheney Road has already resulted in over 160-cubic yards of debris (more than 5 dump trucks) removed from the property. The cleanup resulted in more than 30 homeless tents being moved off the property, cleaning up garbage and multiple areas with large amounts feces while cutting back brush and trees.
According to Curt Michael, Code Enforcement, the property owner has had the property for more than 30-years and they have tried to get in touch with the owner as well as the LLC owner with no success.
The case, according or Michael, has been active since August of 2017 and in the last month they have began notice and going above and beyond what the law says. The Warrant is good for 14-days and can come back and abate with 24-hour notice.
“We have phone numbers, but they are no good,” said Michael. “For us, you can see how much this takes. Let’s pretend he did drive by and saw the conditions it was in last week, you have 40-50 people camping in 30 tents and suddenly, maybe its better the city does this. We followed all the procedures including posting the Abatement Warrant on site. Unfortunately, we are using city resources to do this cleanup.”
Michael says that the city will put a Lien on the property and could be reimbursed at some point next year after tax season.
In terms of cost to the city, they have an estimated cost which was in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, however, they had to hire a contractor, so the final cost will likely be higher. The funding will come from an abatement fund.
Michael added that if the Lien does not get paid, the property could default into a tax sale for failure to pay taxes or the property Lien.
If the City needs to abate the property again in the future, due to an update in the city code, they do not have to start the abatement process all over again. Code Enforcement can now continue their enforcement on cases for up to 12-months. If a property has been vacant for 12-months, then they would have to start the process all over.
On Thursday April 12, the City posted the Abatement Warrant to provide 72-hour notice to vacate the property by April 16th. The Abatement Warrant authorizes the City of Antioch to take all necessary measures to correct the violations and pursue compliance with all applicable laws.
Based on currently available information, the City of Antioch finds that the accumulation of garbage, human waste, hazardous materials, and similar conditions associated with this encampment violate local zoning laws that prohibit blight and preclude a tent encampment in this zoning district. Further, these conditions may violate regulations relating to the protection of local waterways, as the site is immediately adjacent to a flood control area that discharges to the San Joaquin River. As this is private property, the City will pursue reimbursement for the cost of the abatement from the property owner through its ordinary process.
As part of the abatement process, the City will coordinate its efforts with the Antioch Code Enforcement Division, the Antioch Police Department Community Engagement Team (CET), City of Antioch Animal Control, as well as the Contra Costa County Health Services Community Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) team and Contra Costa County Mental Health Community Development Department Code Enforcement Division 200 H Street, Antioch, California 94531-5007 ٠ 925-779-7038 ٠ www.ci.antioch.ca.us Services.
The Antioch CET routinely works within the community to refer persons experiencing homelessness towards County or non-profit resources for assistance. The CORE team establishes relationships with clients through regular communication and visits to encampments and shelters and serves as a point of contact and referral for many social services. The Antioch Code Enforcement Division has also notified local outreach groups of the upcoming abatement but cannot confirm that any such groups will be actively involved with the abatement process.
13 comments
Good job! But, as 31 year resident ,I am fed up with the CITY not HOLDING PROPERTY owners RESPONSIBLE! I AM SICK OF EXCUSES! Delta Fair shopping center is a NIGHTMARE! and again THE CITY IS ALLOWING IT! It is down the street from us!…that used to be a thriving and safe SHOPPING CENTER! ANTIOCH wants to continue building houses and bringing in more PEOPLE! GREEDY!AND STUPID! YOU CAN NOT take care of the ones who already are here!….and now anyone DUMB ENOUGH TO move here to the ghetto is just that DUMB! THIS ENCAMPMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE STARTED TO BEGIN WITH! BUILD A DAMN HOMELESS SHELTER! NOW WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE THEM WANDERING THROUGH MY NEIGHBOURHOOD on SEQUOIA DRIVE! FULL OF CRIME ON OUR STREET!…CITY DOESN’T CARE about that either! Ugh!
This Homeless encampment is a reflection of a societal problem. Just because the homeless chose this particular property on which to camp, does not make the property owner responsible for clean-up. Dealing with the homeless is up to the City—as should be the cost to clean up homeless encampments such as this.
Oh yes, the property owner is responsible for clean up. He let it get this way in the first place. We need all property owners to face their responsibility and sweep up around their stores, keep their property in a safe condition. If they are not I simply will not shop or bank there anymore. The homeless have a responsibility to pick up after themselves also. They are the ones who leave all their trash everywhere. They don’t even use a simple trash can they are standing right next to. They are the ones causing all the messes in our shopping centers.
You are looking for a hand out, not a hand. Look at the trash you guys leave. That’s some b$
Living on the street should be illegal, if only because of the public health issue it creates. Look at the Hepatitis A breakout in San Diego where 100’s were infected recently. You can’t use the streets and yards as your toilet. Having said that, the homeless must have a place where they can go. I think large camps should be built to house them, with showers, etc. With integrated resources, such as medical care and counseling to get people on the right track. If it’s found that someone can’t take care of themselves properly, because of mental health or substance abuse issues, then they need to be committed to an institution until they can properly take care of themselves.
Now let’s get help from other cities.to to take care of this problem.
The homeless as a social problem and is not just Antioch responsibility.
Why is wanting urban outdoorsmen to go be foul smelling eye sores somewhere else too much to ask? /s
There is a new group calling themselves the turning point of east county
It’s members are made up of several churches, and other concerned individuals.
Our goal is to build a homeless facility addressing not only food and clothes issues, but health both physical and mental, to assist with a transition from homelessness.
We know we face an uphill battle.
We will need the help of the cities, the county and the federal government.
We also need the help of the community at large.
A lot of people have the I want to help but not in my backyard attitude.
Homelessness is not a crime, there are people who embrace the lifestyle and do not seek help.
There are many other that if given the chance would become productive, concerned citizens.
Many are there by choice many more by circumstances often beyond their control.
Please take a moment to think what if this was me or my family, do I have a friend that could use a hand. There are some shelters available but not enough, If there was somewhere to take a shower, wash clothes perhaps you might classify them as “foul smelling eye sores.”
The turning point is meeting at the round table in Oakley on Thursday 4-26 @ 7PM. Anyone that is interested in making a difference is welcomed to attend. Please know this is not a place to condemn people because of their circumstances, but rather a place to come up with and them implement change. Please stop complaining and asking someone else to do what we as a community have the obligation to do ourselves. Many of us are 1 or 2 pay checks of a circumstance from being homeless ourselves. Make a difference, do something positive, come join us on the 26th.
Well most of us have to pay taxes, unlike you and your church. Why not use a church for shelter and just “worship” or whatever on the streets?
I do quite a bit of traveling nationwide and I don’t see anything remotely resembling what we have here in California in terms of HOMELESS concentration! We simply cannot afford to take care of these people in terms of housing, health care, employment. This will get worse as we automate more and more. Robots will be doing a lot of the menial work. The majority of these people were dumped here by other states. These people need to be spread out so that other states can take care of them as well. I do feel sorry for the pets these people drag along with them. They can’t even feed themselves, alone a dependent animal.
The majority of homeless people were dumped here by other states. OH REALLY. The majority were born and raised right here in California and they will tell you that. No one is busing in people from out of state. Get a grip on reality.
Legalize RVs as homes and open RV parks. Just that. People can then have a go at life.
Why not offer work most of us will work for a fair wage
Comments are closed.