Article 32 — PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

(Added by O-2587; O-2610; O-2611; Amended by O-3483)

The purpose of this chapter is to ensure proper maintenance of property within the City, promote the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City, and to protect the City’s neighborhoods against blighting and deteriorating influences or conditions that contribute to the downgrading of neighborhood aesthetics and property values by establishing minimum standards, in addition to standards contained in other laws, rules and regulations, for the maintenance of all building exteriors, premises and vacant land.

Every owner of real or personal property within the City is required to maintain such property in a manner so as not to violate the provisions of this Chapter regardless of any contract or agreement with any third party regarding said property.

Every occupant, lessee or holder of any interest in property other than as owner, is required to maintain such property in the same manner as is required of the owner, and the duty imposed by the previous section on the owner shall in no instance relieve those persons referred to from the similar duty.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any property in the City to maintain such premises in such a manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon:

a) A building or structure or part thereof which was constructed, or partially constructed without complying with applicable provisions of this Code or other law.

b) Any partially constructed building, structure or improvements, together with material and equipment used for construction, which is not completed within a reasonable time, or upon which there is a cessation of work for more than sixty (60) days after expiration of a valid building permit, unless such completion or cessation of labor is caused by factors which are not within the control of the owner, such as war, labor strikes and litigation.

c) Any partially destroyed or demolished buildings, structures or improvements which endanger or injure neighboring properties or the public health, safety or general welfare.

d) Any building or structure or portion thereof which cannot be lawfully used in its existing location and condition for any purpose for which it is designed.

e) Improper occupancy of any building or portions thereof occupied or used for any purpose for which it was not built and permitted.

• f) Fences which are in a state of disrepair and create a safety hazard, including, but not limited to the following conditions:

• 1. Broken, rotted or defective fence support posts or other structural members; and
• 2. Leaning block wall whose center of gravity falls outside the face of said wall.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any property in the City to maintain such premises in a condition with:

Overgrown, dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees or vegetation which:

• a) Is likely to harbor rats, pigeons or other vermin or disease carriers.

• b) Causes an obstruction to visibility or other hazardous condition to motorists or pedestrians.

• c) Restricts or impedes access to public use of adjacent sidewalks or streets.

• d) Conceals hazards such as trash and debris or creates harborage for people involved in criminal activity or for products used for criminal activity.

e) Is not cleared or is allowed to continue to grow after a period of thirty (30) days from notification that said vegetation is overgrown.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any property in the City to maintain such premises in such a manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon:

• a) Keeping or disposing of or the scattering over the premises any of the following:

• 1. Refuse, rubbish, offal, animal excrement or other waste material which is not kept or disposed of in accordance with regulations of this code or other provisions.
• 2. Dirt, litter, junk, rubbish, garbage, scrap metal or lumber, concrete, asphalt, tin cans, tires, salvage materials, or other debris.
• 3. Abandoned, discarded, broken or unused furniture, stoves, sinks, toilets, cabinets or other household or business fixtures or equipment, goods, shopping carts or other similar items.
• 4. Abandoned or broken machinery or equipment, or dismantled machinery or auto parts.
• 5. Attractive nuisances to children, including but not limited to: abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, machinery, dilapidated structures, refrigerators or freezers, excavations and hazardous pools, whether or not they contain any water or other liquid.
• 6. Stagnant water.

• b) Any accumulation of materials which provides a harbor for rats or other vermin.

c) Gross lack of maintenance of grounds on which a structure exists where the grounds are visible from a public street, sidewalk or neighboring properties, and where such condition would have a tendency to substantially depreciate the aesthetic environment or property values of surrounding properties.

d) Unpaved or deteriorated parking lots which have potholes, cracks, or ridges, or which constitute a safety hazard to the public.

e) Any sign or sign structure relating to a use no longer conducted or product no longer sold on the property more than ninety (90) days after a change in use or forty-five (45) days after the structure upon which the sign and/or sign structure is placed has been broken, damaged or abandoned.

f) Signs, awnings and/or sign structures maintained in a deteriorated condition.

• g) Abandoned, broken or damaged lighting fixtures.

h) Any evidence of a sign which has been removed, including but not limited to holes, faded areas, ghost images, abandoned cabinets, exposed conduit, or abandoned footings.

i) Violation of any condition of a Conditional Use Permit or other Planning entitlement including Torrance Environmental Quality Commission sign conditions.

j) Unscreened storage lots visible from the public right of way.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any property in the City to maintain such premises in such a manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon:

a) Camper shells, cargo containers or other mobile equipment stored for more than seventy-two (72) consecutive hours in a front or side yard visible from the public right-of-way.

b) Parking or storage of inoperable or abandoned motor vehicles, trailers or boats, or of operational vehicles and motorcycles placed on blocks or otherwise immobilized, visible from the public right-of-way.

c) Repair or dismantling of any vehicle or boat in a residential zone where such activity can be seen from the public street or sidewalk, except where such repair and/or dismantling is on a vehicle registered to the address where the repair is taking place, and is completed and any evidence of repair, including tools, equipment, motor oils and other fluids, rags, spills, parts, and debris, is removed within seven (7) days after the repair or dismantling was begun.

d) Parking recreational vehicles, campers, boats, cars or other mobile equipment on the grass, dirt or other landscaped areas surrounding a house.

e) Any boat, vehicle, trailer, camper or parts thereof which are stored on a lot containing an unoccupied or vacant building or upon unimproved land excepting vehicles necessary for construction purposes which are stored for a temporary time in a manner not to serve as an attractive nuisance for children.

f) Wrecked, inoperative, or abandoned trailers, campers, boats or other motor vehicles which are accumulated or stored in areas visible from the public right-of-way or adjacent properties unless such vehicles are screened by a solid wall.

g) Trailers, campers, boats or any vehicle with utility hookups or other appurtenances of any kind crossing or extending into the public right-of-way.

(Added by O-3680)

With the exception of those items for which a permit may be issued, or for which a legal exception is elsewhere granted in law, it is unlawful for any person owning, occupying or having charge of any property in the City to place or maintain on any sidewalk or public right-of-way abutting or adjoining such property any rubbish or waste material, construction material, play equipment, signs, trash, vegetation, or any object which obstructs or interferes with the free passage, use or view by the public of any sidewalk, street, alley, parkway, beach, or other public right-of-way, or which may impede emergency access.