Hollister Hoping to Cleanup Blighted Areas of Town

By: Monte Schisler, News Director
Posted: Thursday, July 05, 2012

Call it summer cleaning - Hollister City Hall is making it a priority these days to remedy blighted areas of town. Places where weeds have grown out of control, and signs are falling apart, or areas that lack curb appeal. The Board of Aldermen is asking what can be done to take care of property where owners have left town or simply turned their back on the responsibility of upkeep.

City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss addressed the issue at a recent Board of Aldermen meeting, telling HometownDailyNews.com

Rick Ziegenfuss 2012B555

Ziegenfuss says in some cases the city has written letters to homeowners, or tracked them down with a phone call. In a worse-case scenario, he says the city could take the property owner to court to help force cleanup work.

=====(2^nd Version)=====

It’s spring cleaning on a larger scale, and a few weeks late, but the City of Hollister is hoping its latest effort to spruce up things around town will take hold, and catch on.

After the Board of Aldermen questioned some parts of town it considered run down and ragged, City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss tells HometownDailyNews.com he will continue to work with property owners who are having trouble keeping things tidy:

Rick Ziegenfuss 2012B556

Examples of blighted areas according to the Board of Aldermen include lawns where weeds have grown out of control, or corners where signs are falling apart, and general areas of town that lack curb appeal.

=====(3^rd Version)=====

Easier said than done – but Hollister City Hall is doing what it can to clean up some blighted areas of town. The Board of Aldermen recently questioned the look of several pieces of property and some intersections within the city limits. City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss also says he’s heard from residents about what can be done:

Rick Ziegenfuss 2012B557

Ziegenfuss says City Hall will work with each owner in question, because each individual has a story to tell or a reason why their property looks the way it does. As a last resort, Ziegenfuss says the city could take them to court to help force a cleanup plan, but that’s only considered in extreme cases.

=====(4^th Version)====

The City Administrator says he’s handling the issue on a case by case basis, knowing that each property owner has a different set of circumstances. A worse-case scenario would be when the city takes someone to court to force a cleanup plan.

Comments (2) - comment on this story

Branson Backstage - 07/05/2012 4:46:52 AM

Great job Hollister. Maybe your friends on the other side of the lake will follow suit, and work on their blighted areas too.

Sue - 07/06/2012 2:45:46 PM

Wish we could get Rockaway Beach cleaned up. Our problem here is that most of the offenders are friends of City Hall so no clean-up on our main st. SAD!!!