Mission statement
The Neighborhood Law Program (NLP), in collaboration with other City departments, outside governmental agencies, and the citizens of Vallejo, coordinates the efficient use of City resources to address blight and nuisance conditions throughout the City of Vallejo. The Neighborhood Law Program advances the interests of the City by seeking voluntary compliance, and where voluntary compliance is not achieved, the NLP initiates legal proceedings with an aim towards improving the quality of life for the citizens of Vallejo.
THE PROGRAM
The Neighborhood Law Program is a specialty unit of the City Attorney’s Office dedicated to tackling blight and public nuisance conditions in Vallejo. In addition to meeting with residents and community organizations, the NLP lawyers work with the Vallejo Police Department, Code Enforcement Division, and other departments to abate the City’s most unfavorable nuisances and improve the quality of life in Vallejo.
What Is A Public Nuisance?
Civil Code section 3479 defines a nuisance as "anything which is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property.” A public nuisance is “one which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons.” Civil Code section 3480. Essentially, a nuisance is anything that disrupts the reasonable use or enjoyment of land, such as pollution, encroachment, environmental hazards, city code violations, and unpermitted or illegal business activities.
What Can NLP Do?
The first step in addressing nuisance conditions is typically conducted through the deployment of the City’s administrative penalty process, as set forth by Vallejo Municipal Code ("VMC") Chapters 1.12 and 1.15. The administrative penalty processes are initiated by the City departments that have the expertise to address the specific nuisance conditions at issue. These processes are largely undertaken by the City’s Planning & Development Services Department and pertain to violations of the City’s Building Code (VMC Chapter 12), the City’s Zoning Code (VMC Chapter 16), and the Public Health, Safety and Welfare ordinance (VMC Chapter 7).
If voluntary compliance is not achieved through the administrative process, NLP then utilizes several state laws and city ordinances to abate nuisance properties. These include:
- Public nuisance lawsuits (Civil Code section 3479 et seq.);
- Inspection warrants and abatement warrants (Code of Civil Procedure section 1822.50 et seq.);
- Cease and desist letters to address violations of the City’s public health and safety, building, and zoning ordinances; and
- Court-appointed receiverships (Health & Safety Code section 17980.7).
Inspection warrants and abatement warrants authorize cities to petition a court and secure an order to inspect or abate nuisance properties. Generally, before the City may enter onto private property to abate a public nuisance, the City must obtain an abatement warrant. NLP works alongside Code Enforcement, the Building Division, and the Fire Prevention team to identify private properties in need of immediate abatement.
Health and safety receiverships are powerful tools used to address nuisance properties that threaten public health, safety, and welfare. Under Health and Safety Code section 17980.7, a judge can appoint a receiver to rehabilitate properties that have become unsafe or hazardous due to abandonment, squatting, accumulation of junk or hazardous materials, code violations, illegal activity, etc. Although the appointment of a receiver is an extreme remedy used when other methods fail, a receivership seeks to balance the property rights of the owner(s) with the safety and welfare of the community.
These tools not only allow the City to effectively combat ongoing nuisance conditions, they also generally allow the City to lien or recover fees and administrative costs associated with the abatement.
If you would like to report an issue in your neighborhood for our NLP lawyers to investigate, please click HERE for our NLP Citizen Reporter Intake Form.
Please note, however, that NLP lawyers do not represent or provide legal advice/services to individuals or private entities. For information about retaining an attorney or for referral to an attorney, please contact the Solano County Bar Association at (707) 422-5087, the Legal Services of Northern California at (707) 643-0054, or visit the Self-Help Guide to the California Courts website.