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Beaumont staff report progress on downtown code enforcement; some owners cited for violations
Summary
City staff told the council that most downtown property owners are engaging with the city on compliance with the vacant-building and life-safety ordinances, but charges were filed on eight buildings and one large owner remains slow to produce renovation plans.
City staff presented a downtown proactive code-enforcement update and told the Beaumont City Council that most property owners have engaged productively with the department, while a smaller subset has not complied and faces legal action.
Demolition coordinator/public-works staff (Bohanson) said 14 property owners are under review downtown: nine owners have had two or more meetings and are communicating well with staff, while four properties at roughly the 50% completion mark have substantive plans from a design professional. He said staff filed charges against eight buildings and that nine properties were in violation of the newly adopted vacant-building ordinance. "So 1 more slide that I think will demonstrate all this very well," Bohanson said, adding that the goal of the vacant-building registry is not just safe buildings but occupied ones.
Bohanson discussed the Gilbert building (fire-damaged earlier in the year), saying staff remain less than 30 days from an agreed structural-repair deadline but that no building permit for repair or restoration has been submitted; the owner's engineer is reportedly out of the country and staff expect a hearing in early January 2025 to address the missed deadline. He said shoring and scaffolding work is underway to allow assessment of the structural damage.
Council members asked about the one downtown property for which staff had not yet identified an owner; Bohanson said staff are searching deed records and would work with the legal department if the owner cannot be located. Staff noted municipal court fines can start at $500 and increase depending on the violation; filing charges can also allow owners to correct violations in lieu of fines.
Bohanson asked whether the council wanted these updates every six weeks; the council said yes. Staff emphasized that they prefer to offer extensions when genuine progress is being made and that they have coordinated with municipal court to pursue charges only against owners who are unwilling to make repairs.
Next steps: staff will continue outreach, schedule hearings where deadlines are missed, and return to council with regular updates on downtown compliance and any municipal-court actions.
