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Code Enforcement Committee hears updates on Stonegate Apartments, Middlefield Street appeal and other properties
Summary
City departments reported partial fixes at Stonegate Apartments, a pending superior-court appeal over Middlefield Street properties owned by Mr. Sweet, reports of high-occupancy events at 52 North Main Street, and a second blight order for 212 Sisk and 20 White Street ahead of a citation hearing.
The Mayor's Code Enforcement Committee spent the bulk of its meeting reviewing ongoing enforcement cases and neighborhood complaints.
The chair opened with a summary of tenant complaints at Stonegate Apartments, saying tenants reported problems that included lack of heat and unsanitary conditions. A fire department official told the committee the management company had been responsive on life-safety items: "There was some emergency lighting issues... Fire alarm testing is compliant," the official said, while noting a lingering repair in a laundry room where a magnetic door closure was not functioning. Health and zoning representative Taneal said inspectors found no new complaints on the most recent visit but confirmed one accessible ramp at the rear of the building still needed repair.
The Department of Land Use updated the committee on 455 and 465 Middlefield Street, reporting an appeal pending before the superior court. The city attorney said the property owner's counsel had suggested settlement talks but had not followed up; the city plans to proceed with scheduling and briefing and expects another court date in a week or two. Tom (Department of Land Use) said he had driven by the property and observed continued storage of tractor trailers in violation of settlement terms and remains concerned about alleged illegal residential units in an industrial building on the site.
Tom also reported that Mr. Sweet had secured exposed foundation and decking at 52 North Main Street with temporary stockade fencing and had been asked to clean the site. Separately, the mayor's office alerted staff to planned adult-occupancy events in a warehouse on the property; the fire department responded to a recent false-alarm activation connected to vaping at a party and issued the building owner an invoice for the alarm response. The fire official explained the department's process for repeat false alarms: "we give them the second warning, the third warning, and then we start fining them."
Finally, the committee heard that Land Use issued a second series of blight orders against 212 Sisk and 20 White Street. The owner, Mr. Smith, has appealed to a citation-hearing officer with a hearing scheduled next Thursday; the committee noted the owner could appeal the citation-hearing decision to superior court, so the matter could take several months to resolve.
Committee members agreed to keep these properties on future agendas until the outstanding repairs and enforcement steps are completed or court processes are resolved.
