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Board moves forward on Community Preservation and Blight Reduction Act; supervisors discuss enforcement coordination and hardship protections
Summary
Supervisors advanced an ordinance creating a unified enforcement procedure to address blighted properties, giving the Department of Public Works authority to investigate complaints and issue notices of violation while preserving existing enforcement roles for other departments.
Supervisor Sandoval introduced the Community Preservation and Blight Reduction Act at the Oct. 28 meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, describing severe blight in parts of his district and across the city and urging adoption. The ordinance would amend the administrative code to establish a unified procedure allowing the Department of Public Works (DPW) to investigate complaints of blighted properties and to issue notices of violation when appropriate.
Sandoval said the measure is intended to provide a comprehensive tool that consolidates multiple existing enforcement instruments to address conditions such as graffiti, abandonment, litter and unsecured construction sites. "These properties...have become an attractive nuisance for various illegal crimes," he said, describing the problem in the Ocean View–Merced–Ingleside neighborhoods of his district.
Supervisor Chu said she planned to support the ordinance but asked that implementation address access to abatement resources for property owners and that hardship cases be considered so that enforcement does not create unintended consequences. Supervisor Daley asked how the ordinance would interact administratively with the Department of Building Inspections (DBI) and chapters 4, 10 and 13 of the housing code; city attorney and staff representatives said the ordinance would not remove DBI's responsibilities and that multiple remedies may apply to the same situation.
Deputy or staff representatives indicated DPW is part of the city attorney's code enforcement task force and that DPW and DBI would coordinate enforcement efforts. The board passed the ordinance on first reading.
The ordinance’s sponsor said the legislation includes multiple opportunities for property owners to address violations without fines, but also preserves the city’s authority to impose fines and correct blight and charge owners if necessary. The Board did not adopt implementing language on the floor beyond first reading; supervisors emphasized continued interdepartmental coordination and attention to hardship cases during implementation.
