SAN DIEGO — The City of San Diego will begin cleaning up a property deemed to be dangerous in the Grant Hill neighborhood.
People who live in the neighborhood say the property, located across the street from Kimbrough Elementary School, poses a health and safety hazard.
“Really surprised they haven’t done something sooner,” said one resident. “It presents a huge risk. First of all, there’s a school right across the street from it," he added.
“I don’t feel safe, there’s a lot of people that come in and out when we come up in the morning for the bus stop. We think something should be done,” said fed up resident, Kevin Powell.
The property located on K street, was purchased by it’s current owner decades ago. In late 2021, the city says it began receiving complaints from tenants about the uninhabitable conditions - which included lack of running water, electricity, heat, a sewage leak and mold.
The owner was told to repair the property but never did, so the city paid for tenants to be relocated. Since then, homeless people have taken over the property.
“Fire after fire. The fire department is coming every single, I’d say at least three times a month," said one resident who did not want to identify himself.
According to reports, police and firefighters have responded to approximately 75 calls at the property. At least 10 fires broke out between March 2022 and January of this year – including five in a five-day period last fall.
“I cant event sleep at night cause I hear the fire and it’s so close," said the resident.
According to a complaint filed by the city’s attorney’s office, the structure is so damaged it could collapse at any time.
City attorney, Mara Elliot says the property has become an eye sore and a public nuisance to those who live around it.
A judge has ordered a contractor to inspect the property and determine whether to demolish or repair the building.
“So this is a process but the good news for the neighborhood is the process has started and typically it’s pretty quick. This is an egregious situation, we don’t want this to linger any further. I think this community has had enough and it’s time to do something,” said Elliot.
The process is expected to begin sometime next week.
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