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Whittier Conservancy urges council to enforce historic‑resource rules at three derelict properties
Summary
Members of the Whittier Conservancy and several neighbors described years of complaints about three vacant or vandalized historic houses in the Hadley‑Greenleaf and Uptown historic districts and asked the council to enforce the city’s historic resources ordinance and nuisance code. Speakers said repeated staff contacts yielded little enforcement.
Representatives of the Whittier Conservancy urged the City Council during public comment on Oct. 14 to enforce the city’s historic resources ordinance and to pursue nuisance abatement at three long‑neglected properties in the Hadley‑Greenleaf and Uptown historic districts.
"The Conservancy's presentation tonight focuses on 3 properties, only 3 that we have been discussing with the staff ad nauseam for 5 years with 0 results," Helen Raider said, identifying herself as executive director of the Whittier Conservancy. Testimony described vandalism, removal of historic materials, open roofs exposed to weather, raw sewage incidents, and the leasing of yards to commercial operators.
Speakers from the Conservancy and neighborhood groups read municipal code provisions and cited the historic resources ordinance’s maintenance duties and penalties. Mary Gorman Sullins, president of the Whittier Conservancy, read language from the ordinance that makes owners responsible for keeping exterior features in good repair and calls failure to do so a nuisance that may be abated and penalized.
Several speakers said they have repeatedly alerted staff and the Heritage Resources Commission and provided photographic documentation, but they said enforcement actions were not forthcoming. "Five years later, nothing is done on these properties," Sullins said.
City staff later told council there are active code‑enforcement cases related to the addresses raised by speakers; staff said some matters involve civil disputes while others are active enforcement cases that have progressed to various stages, including referral to the city prosecutor in some instances.
Council members asked staff to provide a status update on the specific properties and to report back on next steps and enforcement options. The council did not take an immediate vote on code changes; the public comment served to place the properties on the record and to request follow‑up.
Speakers who addressed the issue included Helen Raider (Whittier Conservancy), Linda DeVries, Mel Stuhr, Gail Cofer, Mary Gorman Sullins, and James Becerra.
