SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – City council approved a three-year, rent-free lease for the Senior Center’s nonprofit to continue to operate in its current building and had its first reading of a new ordinance delineating new consequences for abandoned buildings deemed a “nuisance” at Tuesday’s meeting.
Senior center gets three more years
City council authorized the Senior Center’s nonprofit to continue operating at its 3050 Lake Tahoe Boulevard location for three more years, rent free.
The Senior Center’s building has short- and long-term facility issues that the city predicts will cost $580,000 over the next 10 years. El Dorado County, whose senior nutrition and service programs currently share the building, separately estimated it would take $2 million to $2.5 million to rehabilitate the building for continued use in the next five to 10 years.
The county is moving its programs to the new Multigenerational Recreation and Aquatics Center this fall, so the Senior Center will expand its space to the whole building.
At the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Keith Roberts noted that most of the substantial repairs were slated for 2030 or beyond in the city’s report.
Councilmember Scott Robbins said he is fully aware that this lease approval is “kicking can down the road” in terms of finding a long-term facility solution, be it repairs or a new building, and he wanted the public to have full transparency around that.
The repairs needed to keep the building operational for the next three years are only about $95,299, buying the city more time to evaluate the building’s future before committing to full repairs. The city will continue to cover utility costs of the building, currently budgeted at $49,200 for this fiscal year.
Trudy Morgan, executive director of Tahoe Basin Senior Citizens Center, Inc., said she was filled with “sheer delight” that the council was approving the three-year extension. Similarly, current board president of the nonprofit Gary Maggiore said he was also “just delighted” that they are able to keep the space in the short term.
Both Morgan and Maggiore said the nonprofit was willing to help raise funds to keep the building functional over the next three years.
City council unanimously approved the lease agreement. Mayor Cody Bass was absent. Bass is currently serving 10 days in jail for harassment charges from last year.
Proposed abandoned building ordinance to give the city more discretion
City council also reviewed a proposed ordinance that would revise how city code treats abandoned or damaged buildings in the city. City council will vote to approve the ordinance at its Oct. 6 meeting.
This ordinance gives city staff more discretion when dealing with owners of an eligible abandoned or “substantially damaged nondwelling structure.” Both a small business owner during public comment and councilmembers expressed hesitation about how that discretion would be exercised.
Director of Development Services Zachary Thomas clarified that the ordinance is meant to create different paths for cooperating property owners who are actively trying to remedy their building with insurance or through other means versus the owners who persistently ignore the city and let their building deteriorate.
“I think this should be interpreted as a message from the council to staff to get serious with properties that are being purposefully and flagrantly in violation of their responsibilities as property owners,” Councilmember Scott Robbins said.
Mayor Pro Tem Keith Roberts agreed, saying that having “a lot of discretion” is an important aspect of the new ordinance.
“I think the exact effort of this ordinance is to give us an opportunity to pursue the bad actors and to protect the good actors,” Roberts said.
Here’s a look into what the revised process would look like if the ordinance is approved in October:
A city building official would inspect and determine if the building meets the criteria of an abandoned or substantially damaged nondwelling structure — including if it was damaged by a fire, flood or storm or left only partially constructed.
Under the proposed ordinance, the property owner would be given a reasonable amount of time to complete the repairs, in accordance with state law — unless the building is a danger to public health or safety.
After that period, if the building is still found in violation, city council can determine the amount of the administrative citation’s fee by passing a resolution, allowing flexibility to adjust fees without rewriting municipal code.
Within one year of a building’s first citation, each day the problem goes unaddressed becomes a separate violation, which would now be explicitly allowed under the proposed ordinance. However, daily citations are not mandatory and are at the discretion of the city building official.
The proposed ordinance also adds a formal legal escalation timeline. If 60 days elapse after a first violation and an additional 60 days elapsed after a second violation for the same building, then the city building official is required to refer the case to the city attorney, who will look into enforcement options including litigation or court approval for a health and safety receiver to seize the property.
Also included in the proposed ordinance is that whoever wins the legal battle is entitled to recover “reasonable attorney’s fees,” in accordance with state law.
Appointees
Heather Cade-Bauer was appointed to fill a vacant position on the Parks and Recreation commission. Cade-Bauer will serve on the commission until February 2028, which is the remainder of Former Commissioner Mark Costigan’s term. Costigan resigned on Aug. 31.
City council also approved Councilmember David Jinkens to be their voting delegate at the California League of Cities Conference in Anaheim, CA on Sept. 23-25. Jinkens was already registered for the conference and the only city representative attending.
