Novato, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Division 19.31 of the Novato Zoning Ordinance requires every owner, lessee or occupant to maintain property so the Director finds it neither detrimental nor injurious to public health, safety and general welfare (Section 19.31.020). Section 19.31.030 lists the specific violations. An improvement is presumed in violation when it shows peeling paint, cracked or broken stucco or other exterior covering over four square feet of any single facade; broken, cracked or missing windows or doors; roofs missing shingles, tile or other roofing material or with loose or unstable material; torn, tattered, rusted or broken awnings; or fences, walls and gates with peeling paint, broken bricks or mortar, or cracked stucco. Other listed conditions include abandoned or broken appliances, which come out immediately on notice from the Director, stagnant or polluted pools and ponds, inoperable vehicles and cargo containers stored unscreened where storage is not allowed, hazardous paving, and vegetation that is conclusively presumed overgrown or dead if it has not been cut, watered or replaced within 15 days after the Director's notification. Subsection J also makes any violation of the Uniform Building Code, Uniform Fire Code or Uniform Housing Code, as amended, a violation.

Abatement runs through Section 19.31.040 and Division 19.59. The Director serves a written Notice of Violation that gives 30 days to correct, extendable for good cause and shortened when the violation is a hazard to public health or safety, and the owner can ask for a meeting with the Director (Section 19.59.080). For unsafe buildings, Section 4-4 adopts the 1997 Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, with the community development director in place of the director of public works. The notice and order under Section 401.2 requires repair permits to be secured and work started within a time not exceeding 120 days, or demolition permits within 120 days, and the owner has 30 days from service to appeal in writing to the board of appeals. Failing to appeal waives the right to an administrative hearing. Section 1-6.4 also declares buildings that violate the adopted Building Codes, and structures abandoned or boarded up for 90 days or more, public nuisances.