City Council declared a single-story home on Cypress Court a public nuisance Aug. 4 due to mounting trash around the property, and soon, it will be cleaned up at the property owner’s expense. The council voted unanimously to solicit bids to clean up the refuse at 1221 Cypress Court at the Sept. 8 meeting.
“This is the third case we’ve had at this property,” Code Enforcement Officer Scott Barron said, adding that the first complaints about refuse surrounding the home came in March 2009. “As opposed to getting better, it has gotten noticeably worse.”
Recent photographs taken by Barron show mounds of bagged and items in cardboard boxes piling up between the home and the fence that lines the property. Deloris Blake, who owns the property and was not present at the Sept. 8 public hearing, will be on the hook for the entire cost of the cleanup. Estimates on how much the work would cost were not available by press time.
But if Blake doesn’t pay back the City once the work is completed, the council has the option of placing a lien on the property, according to Barron. If the City doesn’t recover the cleanup costs via a property lien, officials Gilroy can collect an unpaid balance by use of any and all available legal means.
The property was liened in 2010, after the owner failed to pay for a similar cleanup ordered by the City following a declaration it was a public nuisance, Barron said.
