Code Enforcement

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Code Enforcement

The City of Bell Gardens Code Enforcement Division's goal is to promote and maintain a safe and desirable living and working environment. Our Code Enforcement Division works with the community, public service agencies and other City departments to ensure compliance with the City's Municipal Code and Chapter 98 and 99 of the 2020 Los Angeles County Building Code. The Code Enforcement Division is responsible for the elimination of unhealthy and undesirable conditions in the City by investigating and enforcing code violations in response to complaints and observations of the Code Enforcement staff, referrals from other City Departments and City Councilmembers. Compliance is accomplished by cooperation and educating the public, treating all residents with courtesy and respect and prosecuting all major violators.

Municipal Code Property Maintenance Program

The Code Enforcement Division has two enforcement programs. The first program is the Property Maintenance program. This program deals with violations on private property that occur within public view. The violations are listed below.

Chapter 16.20 - MAINTENANCE OF PROPERTY

16.20.020 Condition of property.

No person who owns, leases, rents, manages, or otherwise controls and/or possesses any real property shall permit to exist on any part of the real property any of the following conditions:
1. Unsightly and/or unsafe property erosion or subsidence;
2. Overgrown vegetation, weeds, or dead, decayed or diseased trees or other vegetation which constitute an unsightly appearance, or which are dangerous to public safety or welfare, or which are detrimental to nearby property or property values. For purposes of this subsection, the term “weeds” is defined pursuant to Section 39561.5 of the California Government Code;
3. Storage or accumulation of debris, rubbish and trash visible from the public right-of-way for a period of 24 hours;
4. Storage or accumulation of broken, discarded or inoperable household furnishings, appliances, tools or machinery, play equipment or other similar items when visible from the public right-of-way;
5. Materials or items of any kind stored on rooftops when visible from the public right-of-way or from neighboring properties;
6. Clothes lines in front yard areas or clothing, laundry or merchandise draped over walls or fences;
7. Garbage or trash cans or containers (a) stored in front of side-yard areas which are visible from the public right-of-way, or (b) emitting offensive odors to adjacent properties;
8. Fences or walls which are unsightly, unsafe, in a state of disrepair or which hinder or obstruct access to public sidewalks;
9. Attractive nuisances, including, but not limited to, unsecured and/or hazardous pools, ponds, excavations, refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers, or stoves;
10. On-site and off-site signs, as those terms are defined in Section 87.01 of the Bell Gardens Zoning Code, which advertise uses no longer conducted, or products no longer sold, if such signs are not removed within 30 days after such use or sale has ceased;
11. Temporary signs, as that term is defined in Section 87.01 of the Bell Gardens Zoning Code, not removed within 30 days of the final occurrence of the events advertised or to which the sign relates;
12. Abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative automobiles, trailers, campers, boats or similar vehicles;
13. Parking of motor vehicles on unpaved portions of the property within view of the public right-of-way;
14. Swimming pools maintained or operated in such a manner which allows the pool(s) to become breeding places for mosquitoes or other insects;
15. Displaying of merchandise items “for sale” outside an approved establishment;
16. Erecting an unsightly structure or covering, viewable from a public right-of-way.

Property Rehabilitation Program

The second program is the Property Rehabilitation program. The program addresses Unoccupied Buildings and Structures, and Building and Property Rehabilitation violations listed in Chapter 98 and 99 of the 2020 Los Angeles County Building Code.

Bell Gardens, CA

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