Redlands, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Redlands City Code § 8.04.190, "Property Maintenance," declares it a public nuisance when "maintenance of property or premises [is] so out of harmony or conformity with the maintenance standards of adjacent properties as to cause substantial diminution in the enjoyment, use or property values of such properties." Chapter 8.04 pairs that standard with related nuisance declarations covering fire hazards, refuse and stagnant water (§§ 8.04.030-8.04.060), unsanitary or diseased animals (§§ 8.04.080, 8.04.100), wrecked or inoperative vehicles visible from the street (§ 8.04.200), graffiti visible from adjacent property (§ 8.04.210), and building code or zoning ordinance violations (§§ 8.04.150, 8.04.160), including abandoned or boarded-up structures, unsecured vacant buildings, deteriorated parking lots, and fences "in a state of disrepair or in a dilapidated condition." The chief, director, health officer, or manager may enter a property to investigate a suspected nuisance (§ 8.04.250), and once a violation is confirmed the city issues a notice to abate; if the owner does not voluntarily correct the condition, the city can summarily abate it, record a special assessment lien against the property under § 8.04.450, and recover attorney fees and costs, including treble damages, under §§ 8.04.390 and 8.04.400.

Failing to comply with an abatement order is a misdemeanor under § 8.04.490. Separately, Redlands has adopted the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, 1997 edition, as its Dangerous Buildings Code under Chapter 15.14, governing "the enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, conversion, demolition, occupancy, equipment, use and maintenance of buildings" that are unsafe, and any violation of that chapter is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or six months in county jail, with each day of continued violation a separate offense (§ 15.14.150).