Gardena, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Two nuisance grounds
- Health/fire/life danger or state substandard-building finding
- State cross-reference
- Cal. Health & Safety Code § 17920.3
- Appeal window
- 10 calendar days to city clerk
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor under § 8.64.230
- Cost recovery
- Special assessment or lien on property
- Emergency power
- City manager may abate immediately, § 8.64.220
Summary
In the City of Gardena, a building maintained as a health hazard, fire hazard, or danger to human life is declared a public nuisance under Municipal Code § 8.64.020(A), and a building meeting the state's substandard-building criteria in Health and Safety Code § 17920.3 is independently a nuisance under § 8.64.020(I), triggering the same Chapter 8.64 abatement process.
It is declared a public nuisance for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of any real property in the city: A. To maintain any building or structure on the property in such a manner as to constitute a health hazard, fire hazard or a danger to human life; or ... ... I. To maintain any building or portion thereof in a manner which constitutes a substandard building pursuant to Section 17920.3 of the California Health and Safety Code; or ... ... § 8.64.230. Violation - Criminal penalty. The owner or any other person having charge or control of any such buildings or premises who maintains any public nuisance defined in this chapter, or who violates an order of abatement, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Full Breakdown
Gardena treats a dangerous or substandard building as a public nuisance in two overlapping ways. Section 8.64.020(A) reaches any building maintained as a health hazard, fire hazard, or danger to human life, while subsection (I) separately catches any building that is substandard under California Health and Safety Code § 17920.3, so the City does not need to prove both grounds. Either finding triggers the same abatement track: the director issues a written notice and order under § 8.64.060 and § 8.64.070, posts it on the property, and gives the owner ten calendar days to file a written appeal with the city clerk under § 8.64.080.
An unappealed order becomes final; an appeal goes to a hearing officer designated by the city manager, who must decide within thirty days of the close of the hearing under § 8.64.100 and § 8.64.110. If the owner does not comply with a final order, § 8.64.130 authorizes the city manager to have the director abate the building by city forces or private contract and to enter the property for that purpose. The City keeps an accounting of abatement costs under § 8.64.140, and those costs can become either a special assessment collected with the property tax bill (§ 8.64.180) or a nuisance abatement lien recorded against the property (§ 8.64.190).
Where the condition is an immediate hazard, § 8.64.220 lets the city manager skip the notice procedure and abate at once. Separately, § 8.64.230 makes maintaining the nuisance, or violating an abatement order, a misdemeanor, and § 8.64.210(A)(6) allows administrative fines under Chapter 1.20 as an alternative track.
Violations & Fines
Maintaining a dangerous or substandard building, or violating a director's abatement order, is a misdemeanor under § 8.64.230. The City can instead or additionally impose administrative fines under Chapter 1.20 per § 8.64.210(A)(6), pursue a civil abatement action, and recover abatement costs and attorney's fees as a special assessment or lien against the property under §§ 8.64.140-190.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a building a nuisance under Gardena's code?
How much time do I have to appeal a Gardena abatement order?
What happens if I ignore a final abatement order?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Gardena
California rules heatmap·Compare Gardena to another location·View the California property maintenance overview
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