Homeowner Accused of “Junking Up” Neighborhood

The City of Pasadena’s Code Enforcement Commission will meet on Thursday to decide on a case that pertains to the accumulation of unsightly “junk” and an inoperable vehicle on a residential property, in violation of Pasadena Municipal Code provisions.

The property in question is a single-family residential unit located in the 2000 block of Casitas Avenue in Pasadena.

According to a report by Jon Pollard, Code Compliance Manager at Pasadena’s Department of Planning and Community Development, the owner of the property is violating Section 14.50.040 of the Municipal Code, by accumulating junk and debris and continuing to store an inoperable vehicle in the open carport area of his residential property.

The owner, Julius Johnson, is also in violation of the General Penalty clause of the Municipal Code, the report said.

The owner has been invited to appear before the Code Enforcement Commission in the public hearing segment of the meeting Thursday. He is also allowed to send a representative.

The Code Compliance report said staff had conducted a series of inspections on the property since March, and saw that multiple pieces of unused household items/appliances including a washing machine and dryer, a refrigerator, a cooking range and oven, coffee table, box springs and bed frame, metal and rattan display/shelf unit and various plastic containers and boxes “were stored to the rear of the front dwelling.”

At the same time, an inoperable Dodge Stratus vehicle with expired registration and a flat tire has been parked in the open carport at the rear of the property.

Staff also noted overgrown vegetation on the property.

The report said the owner failed to comply to numerous citations and orders to remove the junk and the inoperable vehicle from his property, so the department referred the case to the Code Enforcement Commission for a hearing of the facts and disposition, as required in the Municipal Code.

The Planning Department is recommending that the Code Enforcement Commission order the owner to remove the accumulated junk from the open yard area of the site, and to bring the inoperable vehicle back into a state of operability including updating its registration, or to remove it from the site.

Code Compliance usually schedules a re-inspection after the required corrections are made.

The Code Enforcement Commission public meeting starts at 4 p.m. at the Permit Center Hearing Room, at 175 N. Garfield Avenue in Pasadena.