The city of Napa is pursuing legislation to get rid of the troubled Jefferson Street building | Media Pyro

On Oct. 28, Napa filed a legal petition in an attempt to force the demolition of the building at 3558 Jefferson St., which the city says is a public nuisance and in violation of several of state and local laws.

The legal action comes after the city’s enforcement practices — which included several investigations and compliance orders against Mayor J. Fernando A. Medina last year — failed to change the house rules, according to court documents.

“The Owner’s enforcement efforts to date have not been able to provide a long-term solution due to the Owner’s inability to maintain his property,” the city said in a statement. court records.

The city is also suing unnamed individuals — whose names the city does not know at this time, court documents say — saying they are partially responsible for “unlawful practices , negative, and low values ​​on Property.”

In order to resolve the problems presented by the building, Napa is asking the court to appoint a receiver to repair the property or to demolish it if the repairs are not successful. The city is also asking the court to grant the receiver and the city a first lien on the property to reimburse various costs associated with operating the building.

Medina did not immediately respond to requests for comment via a phone number associated with him. A man who came out of the Jefferson Street home Tuesday and would not identify himself said Medina was asleep and was not available to comment.

Medina is also the subject of a criminal case filed on August 30. In that case, he was charged with a felony count of maintaining a place for the sale of methamphetamine and two misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

According to the abatement petition filed by the city in Napa County Superior Court, the Jefferson Street building will be in a state of disrepair and unsanitary conditions from at least July 2021. The documents state , according to neighbors, “the situation in the house has been bad since 2020. and it has gotten worse since March 2022.

Napa Police have also responded to 74 calls for service related to the building this year. It includes 15 incidents of disturbing the peace, 17 calls for traffic and pedestrians and patrols — often indicating narcotics, according to documents — and seven calls related to reports of gunshots or the sound of gunshots.

Court documents detail the city’s efforts to inspect the property and order Medina to make improvements up to code multiple times. The documents also state that neighbors in the city often complained of criminal activity on or near the building; the roof of the house is broken and tarred; the smelly dirt and debris that the maggots are attracted to are piled up around the house; and the unknown people were “sitting, bathing, and urinating in the back.”

As a result, city law enforcement officers inspected the property several times. A lawsuit was filed against the property in July 2021 for “an RV in the back, sewage handling, noise, roof issues and raw sewage in the front yard.” The RV and sewer issues were finally addressed, after officials dealt Medina with multiple compliance orders and administrative citations.

Court records show the case was closed without a proper verdict in the winter of 2021-22 because the city’s two law enforcement officers had retired. A new legal case was opened in 2022 because of ongoing complaints, the documents said.

On June 9 this year, city law enforcement officers visited to investigate, but left after dark when seven people were surrounded, according to documents. While they were there, they “observed that the roof had been destroyed, and that a lot of garbage had been collected outside the building.”

Law enforcement searched the house on June 29 with officers from the Napa Special Investigations Bureau conducting a probation search for Medina. (That search led to the subsequent criminal case against Medina.)

Law enforcement officials “observed an unfinished roof, holes in the ceiling, mold, a broken bathroom and at least one missing toilet, an accumulation of solid waste, and odors from the backyard emanating from tenants throwing their trash in the backyard,” the documents said, and later issued an order for Medina to bring the property to the law enforcement agency. town.

Bylaws will provide Medina with a free 20-yard garbage can so he can clean up the property. Two trash cans were filled and collected, but no additional work was found to have been completed to meet the compliance order.

Law enforcement also inspected the building on August 11 with the city’s building manager and fire chief. They found other violations of city and state laws, and issued a compliance order on Sept. 6.

The city’s utilities department issued a separate compliance order on Sept. 12 for Medina’s failure to pay for the city’s garbage, recycling and composting. (The house does not have water or sewer service, due to a lack of payment for those services, according to court documents.)

Neighbors regularly complained about the building, alleging that the occupants were involved in criminal activities, according to the documents. Several neighbors attended several Napa City Council meetings in October to ask the city to work on the building.

The property was also where two pit bulls were attacked, according to court records. The first was on a neighbor’s dog, which occurred in Medina’s presence in June, documents state. And the man was bitten by a dog a few nights later; Napa County animal control removed the dog after the second bite.

“The Chief appeared to be intoxicated and began punching and dragging the dog under attack and yelling at the dog’s owner as he screamed for help,” the documents state. “The dog bit a second time a few nights later; this time the dog bit a man.

With no action on the enforcement orders — and constant complaints from neighbors — the city chose to pursue legal action, according to court documents.

“The City’s efforts to eliminate Property violations and achieve compliance have been futile. The adverse conditions created by the Property will only worsen the court’s intervention as the Owner is unable to keep his property safe. Therefore, an agent should be prepared to restore the poor and inferior properties of the Property,” says the city’s landmark.