LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. (KERO) — Resident have told 23ABC that the property located at 5334 Lake Isabella Boulevard in Lake Isabella has been a nuisance for years.
- As part of the demolition process, a contractor recently performed asbestos removal on the property, which led to trash becoming strewn about the property, impacting a local business.
- Kern County acknowledged the issue and says the contractor slated to demolish the building will work on cleaning the trash up starting on November 27.
- Code Compliance estimates the building will be demolished two to four weeks after November 26.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
On a rainy day, Stephenie Blankenship is going about running her small business, an apothecary focused on natural health remedies - which is coming up on the one year anniversary of opening.
“And now, at this point, I’m getting messages from people saying they don’t want to come here because of how it looks, how it smells and the safety of their own vehicles,” Blankenship said.
Blankenship isn’t talking about the scents or sights located in her store, but rather from the property across the street. A former gym, the building has been abandoned for years -and has become a dumping ground.
Last week, Blankenship said she saw activity on the property.
“I was so excited to see that they were here cleaning it up, so they had the hazmat suits on, they had their big old dumpsters.”
Knowing the building was scheduled to be demolished, she thought demolition day had come.
“They were bringing everything out and spraying it with this white powder spray stuff, and then suddenly they just left, and I thought maybe they will come back tomorrow and finish the job and they never came back.”
The result was that trash previously housed inside the building was now strewn outside of it.
“As part of the demolition contract they undergo asbestos testing of the facility, of the structure in this particular case it did test positive,” said Al Rojas.
Al Rojas, Code Compliance Program Manager explains the work Blankenship saw last week was by a contractor hired to remove the asbestos from the property.
“That portion of the work was completed a couple of days ago unfortunately as part of the work they did remove the internal contents of the structure so they could remove the asbestos and now it’s left a pretty big mess on the site.”
Rojas said the contractor who performed the asbestos clean-up must now file paperwork in order for the county to get a demolition permit issued, which can take a few weeks. In the meantime –
“We have made arrangements with our contractor and they will start work tomorrow morning to clean-up the exterior of the property,” Rojas said.
The day couldn’t come sooner for Blankenship, who notes several events coming up on the boulevard
“We are still going to have our one year anniversary hoping that people will come, but I’m a little bit concerned about that. We have our Christmas parade here this Saturday.”
As for the demolition permit, Rojas said that could take two to four weeks to receive, with demolition work starting shortly after. It’s been a long time coming -
“This particular property has been under our radar for about ten years or even more,” said Rojas.
Rojas says Code Compliance gives opportunities for the property owner to take care of issues if they don’t.
“If it is a sound structure, we typically angle for boarding and securing the property. Property rights are very strong in this state for owners.”
Before Before Code Compliance can demolish a building –
“You really have to make the case that a building has deteriorated to the point that it can't be salvaged.”
Rojas said Kern County was unable to contact the owner of this property, and after years of break-ins and vandalism, they were able to make that case, entering into the forced abatement process this past April. Rojas said the ignition of several fires on the properties helped them make the case that it had become a public safety hazard.
They have a contractor ready to go when the demolition permit is issued.
“The funds are taken by the demolition fund which the county sets up on a daily basis, and those costs are now liened against the property,” Rojas said.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
