By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier file photo

The Los Altos City Council approved a new blight ordinance so restrictive that nearly every Los Altos homeowner will be in violation, a city official said. Termites, yard trimmings or dust and dirt that blows onto someone else’s property is enough to warrant city action under the new law.

The updated Property Blight and Nuisance Ordinance is intended to give the city the authority needed to crack down on habitual violators of the city code by providing a broader list and better definition of what the city can abate.

“There are some houses in town that are just shocking. I wonder how people can have property of such value be in such disrepair,” said Councilman John Moss.

“We need to get people to clean up their act or we’ll do it for them.”

The problem is that the ordinance may be too restrictive.

“I would love to get at the issues we’re trying to solve, but this is way too broad,” said Councilwoman Kris Casto.

City planner James Walgren said the ordinance is so broad “you could find violations of this ordinance at just about any house in Los Altos.”

As a result, the council approved the ordinance as written with the plan to hold a study session to collect public input on improving the law before it goes into effect in mid-February.

The city began laying the groundwork for a new ordinance last April after receiving an increase in neighbor complaints about properties with unkempt weeds and rubbish.

Los Altos code enforcement officer Paul Ray said earlier this year that police receive 50 to 100 complaints about neighborhood weeds and rubbish each year.

Ray said 99 percent of those noticed comply voluntarily, but for those who don’t, the city needs a law with teeth.

Ray said the old law left much to interpretation, making it difficult for the city to abate property.

Rubbish is often very subjective, he said.

The new ordinance sets standards to define specific blight.

Under the law, boxes, rags, wood, plastic, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, glass and dust are among the items considered rubbish.

The city can consider houses or commercial buildings with peeling, flaking or blistering paint or termite-infested roofs as in a “state of disrepair” or abandoned if there has been no substantial construction work on a project for six months.

Homeowners with “inadequately maintained” landscaping, dirt or vegetation accumulated on the edge of a sidewalk or gutter area or with recyclable materials openly stored would be in violation of the new law.

The law prohibits residents from parking recreation vehicles, boats, or boat or horse trailers in their front- or side-yard areas for more than 72 hours.