Huntington Park, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Title 5, Chapter 35 is Huntington Park's blight and dangerous-building ordinance, and it works in layers. Section 5-35.01 declares any building with a listed substandard condition a substandard building. Section 5-35.02 lists the conditions: inadequate sanitation such as no hot and cold running water, structural hazards, inadequate or hazardous wiring, faulty plumbing and mechanical equipment, faulty weather protection such as broken windows and doors, inadequate exits, fire hazards in the opinion of the fire department, and abandoned buildings, meaning abandoned, open, or vandalized. Section 5-35.03 adds substandard property conditions such as overgrown vegetation, and § 5-35.04 declares that any lot with a substandard building or a substandard property condition is a public nuisance. So is any lot whose topography causes erosion, subsidence, or surface water runoff problems, and any lot with a building or use that violates the building, zoning, or other laws of the City or state.

The Chief Administrative Officer or designee issues a notice of declaration of nuisance and order to abate to the owner (§ 5-35.06). The owner can appeal in writing to the City Clerk within 15 calendar days, without an appeal fee (§ 5-35.07). A hearing officer then decides, after 10 days' written notice of the hearing (§ 5-35.08). A further appeal to the City Council also runs 15 calendar days and carries a filing and processing fee set by Council resolution (§ 5-35.10). Abatement under § 5-35.05 means rehabilitation, demolition, repair, or any other action reasonably necessary. An owner can rehabilitate, demolish, or repair at the owner's own expense before the order's deadline expires, and the City reserves the right to seek a receiver (§ 5-35.11). Otherwise City forces or a private contractor do the work (§ 5-35.12).

Costs, including administrative costs and attorneys' fees, fall on the owner. After confirmation they become a special assessment collected with ad valorem property taxes, and a lien once the order is recorded with the County Recorder (§§ 5-35.13, 5-35.16). Where a condition is an immediate threat to public health and safety, § 5-35.19 authorizes summary abatement with a cost proceeding afterward.