SAN JOSE – A burned-out hotel, an abandoned historic church, a crumbling bus station and an abandoned movie show next to a boarded-up shopping mall have all turn out to be glaring reminders of the growing neglect that characterizes San José’s landscape.
It is a sobering situation that has increasingly frightened city leaders and others and led to calls for motion.
“We still don't see nearly enough accountability for absentee property owners who burden the rest of the community with their dilapidated and vacant properties,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan admitted in an interview.
Critics say the San Jose Building Inspection Department needs stronger tools to crack down on property owners who let their properties and buildings rot and deteriorate, and remain baffled as to why the town has been so slow to take motion to deal with the issue.
“The Code Enforcement Division needs to go to the City Council and tell them what they need to be successful,” said Bob Staedler, managing director of Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consulting firm.
In June, the town postponed a comprehensive review session to take a more in-depth have a look at the town's blight issues until later this yr.
“It's confusing that the City Council doesn't want to hold a study session anytime soon, but rather later,” Staedler said. “I'm not sure who would argue against eliminating the blight. If there was ever a consensus goal, eliminating the blight would probably be second only to ending homelessness.”
“Deterioration is a growing problem,” said Leah Toeniskoetter, president of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. “Deterioration is one of the biggest blights on a place, whether it's your neighborhood or a local business district. It makes you want to avoid that place and walk past it.”
Jim Salata, owner of San Jose-based Garden City Construction, can be a fierce critic of the town's efforts to combat blight, believing the town's response has been sluggish at best.
“Last August, the city was supposed to launch a pilot program to address squalor, but nothing has changed,” Salata said. “It's just a matter of the people who work for the city doing their jobs. There's no excuse for this still being a problem.”
Mahan said he too is committed to resolving the difficulty, but added he’s waiting for a report from the town manager with next steps.
“It is time to reorganize building code enforcement at City Hall and ensure we are fully utilizing the powers of our City Attorney’s Office,” Mahan said.
The decline is especially severe in the town center, which remains to be struggling to recuperate from the economic impact of the pandemic and hampering the town's efforts to revitalize the realm.
A couple of months ago, a fireplace suddenly broke out in downtown San Jose, destroying two Victorian-era houses. Mountains of burned debris still lie along North Fourth Street.
Salata has created an official list of what he considers to be run-down properties in downtown San Jose.
The investigation includes several properties where development projects were planned but haven’t yet been implemented, leaving the sites derelict and undeveloped.
Salata's list of buildings in downtown San Jose includes the old historic church at 43 East Saint James Street, a former Greyhound station at 70 South Almaden Avenue, and the burned-out Lawrence Hotel, a historic constructing at 69 East San Fernando Street.
In January 2021, the old hotel was devastated and destroyed by fire. Years later, the owner has still not repaired or renovated the two-story constructing. The historic constructing stays an unsightly shell.
However, some solutions for the old hotel are finally emerging.
This week, the town's Board of Appeals ordered the hotel's owners – San Mateo-based Eagle Hills Property, GTL Investments, Kevin Louie and Jose Castillo – to start remediation and repairs.
Louie and Castillo complained to the board that astronomically high rates of interest and inflation made it difficult to acquire financing to repair the constructing's problems.
The two managing directors explained throughout the hearing on August 8 that they were not only absentee owners who were indifferent to the repair of the hotel premises.
Still, a city report painted an image of a leisurely pace by city officials and property owners in cleansing up the eyesores and hazards on the burned-out hotel for the reason that fire in early 2021.
It took two months for city authorities to even discover the owners of the property after the fireplace.
City inspectors visited the scene several times within the greater than three years for the reason that fire, often taking photographs, in line with city documents.
Disturbing discoveries were made during visits to the Lawrence Hotel. A city inspector found graffiti, a homeless encampment and a fence that was open and accessible to unauthorized individuals in September 2022.
Although these constructing code violations date back to January 2021, it was not until August 8 that a city board ordered concrete measures comparable to painting, graffiti removal and other improvements.
“Reversing decline is more complex than people think,” says Alex Stettinski, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association.
Some retailers, including Salata, are developing strategies to deal with the town center's problems.
“We are fed up with the inaction of the city authorities,” said Salata. “We are developing a plan to do something about it.” However, he didn’t reveal the sport plan, which remains to be being developed.
In the meantime, the issue stays unsolved, which dismays Töniskötter.
“I see buildings that have been there for years, burned out and dilapidated,” said Toeniskoetter. “This cannot continue.”
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