By Sara Beth Williams–
The Citrus Heights City Council voted unanimously during a special City Council meeting to reject the appeal of a homeowner who has been ordered to remove dozens of stored vehicles from his Old Auburn Road property.
In a statement to The Sentinel, the city said in part, “The property at 8240 Old Auburn Road has been a code enforcement issue since July 2023 due to approximately 50 vehicles parked on unimproved surfaces, including the front lawn and yard, violating Citrus Heights Municipal Code regulations.”
The city further confirmed that the property owner, who only owns 8240 Old Auburn Road, has accrued $8,776 in unpaid fines. The property was declared a public nuisance at an administrative hearing on March 18, with an abatement deadline of April 14, per a Notice of Hearing Decision and Order of Abatement. The property owner filed an appeal on April 9, contesting the citation.
Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa said Thursday the meeting was open to the public and estimated that 25 to 30 people were in attendance, including neighbors, two attorneys, code enforcement officers, and the owner, who spoke contesting the abatement order.
Jones Mayer associate attorney Robert Wakefield, who spoke representing the city, said that extra time and extensions granted to property owners to resolve code enforcement issues, is measured by the date of when the first notice is issued. Wakefield said the first notice from code enforcement was sent to the property owner 667 days ago.
“No additional amount of time in my experience is going to change the behavior that he has displayed in this case, with respect to compliance,” Wakefield said.
Code Enforcement officers directly familiar with the case testified during the hearing that Citrus Heights Code Enforcement has inspected the property 15 times within the last two years, and said the property has accumulated up to an estimated 75 vehicles, including regular, commercial and marine vessels. An inspection conducted on the morning of May 14 showed that the property owner had made no attempt to comply with code enforcement orders. Code Enforcement officers also said over $8,000 in fines had been accumulating since 2017.
The property owner spoke to the council, requesting an extension, and said he is a small business owner. He claimed 30 vehicles were removed recently and estimated he only had 20 remaining parked on unapproved surfaces. The owner also said he lost the lease on two properties which he had previously used to store vehicles and is currently searching for another property where he can store vehicles.
“I had no other choice,” the owner said, adding the cost of moving the cars has also been a challenge because he is waiting for knee surgery. The owner also mentioned he is planning to retire from his business and will shut down once he depletes his current inventory.
Karpinski-Costa alleged that the owner “lied” and claimed to have paid down some of his accrued fines. Code Enforcement officers present said they could not find any record of the property owner making any payments on his fines. It was unclear whether the owner possibly could have paid down some fines in the past that were many years old.
“The neighbors deserve better than this,” Karpinski-Costa said, adding that she had initially gone into the meeting with feelings of sympathy toward the property owner but decided to vote to reject the appeal based on the length of time in which he did not comply with code enforcement requests to remove vehicles.
Aerial images from Sacramento County Assessor’s Office show that the property at 8240 Old Auburn Road is 2.46 acres, directly adjacent to another 4-acre property. Aerial images from Google Maps also show vehicles parked on both properties.
Neighbors and Vice Mayor MariJane Lopez-Taff voiced concerns regarding the hazards that multiple vehicles parked close together on top of grassy areas pose to the environment. Some community members said they were concerned about the higher risk of fire during the summer months due to leaking fluids, and Lopez-Taff said leaking fluids from dozens of vehicles parked on other surfaces besides cement or asphalt pose a risk to the underground water supply.
Karpinski-Costa said the four-person council voted unanimously to reject the homeowner’s appeal. Councilmember Kelsey Nelson was sick and was not in attendance at either the special or regular City Council meetings.
Following the council’s rejection of the property owner’s appeal, the owner must immediately remove vehicles illegally parked on unapproved portions of the property per city regulations and that if they are not removed, the city will remove them through obtaining an abatement warrant.
The property owner was not able to be contacted by The Sentinel before press time.
