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Council hears residents’ safety concerns over overgrown alleys; staff to revise ordinance and pursue abatements
Summary
Residents raised safety and emergency-access concerns about overgrown and poorly maintained alleys; building official described a plan to update the city’s ordinance, use contractors for abatements and place liens when necessary.
Residents and councilmembers spent a substantial portion of the June 3 meeting discussing overgrown alleyways, drainage problems, and the city’s abatement process after multiple citizens raised safety concerns and reported downed power lines and potential homeless encampments.
Councilmember Ruth Camarillo Smith brought the item forward and presented resident complaints about alley overgrowth that, she said, can impede emergency access and has left at least one power line down for years. Several residents supplied photographs and cited specific blocks, including West Matlock between 11th–13th streets, where overgrowth and soft…
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