Rundown Building condemed after city finds 80 violations
Including exposed wires, gas leaks and vermin
Hollister – More than 20 Hollister residents will have to find a new place to sleep tonight.
On Friday, Hollister Code Enforcement Officer Mike Chambless condemned the house at 11 Rustic Street, which has been illegally converted into seven units, because of myriad fire hazards, sanitation problems and structural maladies. The 21 people, including at least eight children, who live in five of those units had to be out by nightfall Friday. Those who live in the other two units, which are more sound, have a week to vacate.
“I think this is not okay,” said a shaken 17-year-old resident and San Benito High School student who lived in the house but declined to give her name. She answered the door when Chambless and Associate Planner Maria De Leon came to tell her that she and her family had to get out of the house before dark. The city gave each family a $1,000 check to help them as they find a new place to live.
About three weeks ago a probation officer, who had been checking on a client at the Rustic Street property, called Chambless and told him he might want too take a look at the place. On Thursday, Chambless, the city building inspector and the fire marshall inspected the property. They did not like what they saw.
“I was surprised at the condition,” Chambless said. “We knew it was going to be bad, but it was way worse then we expected.”
They found more than 80 violations, including buckling walls, rusting exterior gas lines, lack of exits and deteriorating foundations. There was also a broken sewer pipe under the structure with a small plastic children’s pool placed beneath it to collect the effluent. At least one unit was infested with rats.
Chambless said that he is usually able to take some measures, such as installing smoke detectors, to make a dwelling safe enough to give the occupants some time to find a new place to live. But because of the multitude of serious violations at 11 Rustic Street, that was not a possibility this time.
“This is the most dangerous I’ve seen,” Chambless said, who has condemned six properties for the city during his year on the job. “They’re all death traps.”
Hollister Fire Department Captain Kenny Melin, who was with Chambless and De Leon Friday, said that, because they are unsound and lack adequate exits, the structures at 11 Rustic Street were a danger to both the people who live in them and to firefighters who might have to go in them in case of a fire.
“It’s a safety issue for the ones who live here, and it’s a safety issue for us, firefighters,” he said.
Irene and Salvador Agredano, the Hollister residents who own the property at 11 Rustic, face up to $100,000 in fines and have to pay the city’s costs for inspecting and condemning the property. Also, they must pay the relocation costs for their displaced tenants – including moving expenses and three months rent.
Also, the Agredano’s, who could not be reached for comment Friday by press time, must either obtain a permit to demolish the structures or submit plans to bring them up to code by Nov. 9.
Chambless said he does not relish kicking people out of their homes, but it’s a matter of safety.
“I feel sorry for people who had to live in those conditions,” he said.
