UPDATE: Owner of Redding land in 'fire-prone canyon' gets more time to fix code violations

Redding’s Administrative Hearing Board on January 24 decided to give the owner of blighted land in a canyon off Lake Boulevard an extra 30 days to clean up the property before imposing steep fines that could total $100,000.Peter Figura of the Administrative Hearings Board said that the owner of the land now has until March 23 to comply with cleanup rules and is expected to work with Redding officials to determine exactly what must be done.

If the property is still not in compliance on March 23, fines of $100 per day, up to a maximum of $100,000, will be assessed.

“You are not unique,” Figura told the land’s owner, Allen Ansari, the 71-year-old Mission Viejo-based owner of the troubled property located in a canyon off Lake Boulevard. Ansari's company, Sundial Villas LLC, is located in Morgan Hill.

“I understand you have a complicated situation with those properties,” Figura told Ansari, suggesting that he might need to hire a security guard to keep illegal campers out.

The 67-acre area has been littered with debris, drawn illegal campers and been deemed a significant fire risk for nearly a year.

Neighbor Leslie Reynolds, who attended the hearing, said “we’re very concerned and we’ve been for years because of the fire hazard. It’s going to turn out just like a Carr Fire. It’s the same type of canyon.”

Ansari told the board that he has made changes the city requested in the past. “No Trespassing” signs were put up to only be promptly torn down, he said.

And Ansari said he didn’t see putting up an expensive fence as a solution, since people would just cut through it and enter the property anyway. Ansari insisted that he didn’t have the authority to remove people living on the property illegally and that the city should take on that responsibility.

“You guys tell me what I should do. I’ll do it,” Ansari told the city code enforcement representatives that attended the hearing.

Figura said Ansari and his company, Sundial Villas LLC of Morgan Hill, would have extra time to bring the property into compliance.

Original story, 4 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24

Redding takes on squalid area off Lake Boulevard

Redding officials are prepared to bring the hammer down on an out-of-town property owner whose land in a canyon off Lake Boulevard has been littered with debris, drawn illegal campers and been deemed a significant fire risk for nearly a year.

The meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday before the Administrative Hearings Board at Redding City Hall concerns four locations — 180 Masonic Avenue, 187 Sulphur Creek Road, 200 Lost Lane and 304 Sulphur Creek Road. Together, they total 67 acres and adjoin several other large vacant areas "in a highly rugged, steep, vegetation covered, fire-prone canyon," according to a report to the Administrative Hearings Board.

The properties are adjacent to commercial areas and multi-family residences, the report said, and are visiblefrom North Market Street and Highway 299.

Since numerous violations remain after several months of inspections and orders to clean up, the report said the board will determine this week whether the property owner will receive penalties of $100 per day starting Feb. 23, up to a maximum of $100,000.

The property owner is listed as Sundial Villas LLC of Morgan Hill. The responsible party is listed as Allen Ansari of Mission Viejo.

Nearly a year of complaints

The city said it got its first complaint about the land at 180 Masonic Ave. from a resident on Feb. 6, 2022.

A site visit by the Redding Police Department found piles of trash and everything from furniture, appliances, bicycles, hazardous waste, mattresses and clothing to tents and gas generators, the report said.

"Numerous" temporary shelters, tents and cooking facilities were also found, "with evidence of fire activity," the report said.

After the property owner did not respond to a courtesy notice and two violation notices from Redding police in March and April, code enforcement staff said they got on the phone with property owner in May.

That group's representative, Ansari, said he had concerns regarding cleanup costs, according to the city. Ansari also told officials that he was in talks to sell the property to a developer and would work with the owners of neighboring vacant properties to clean up the mess.

"However, no such collaboration ever took place," the city's report said, adding that "When police visited the site in June, they found the violations not only remained, but had grown extensively."

There was evidence of camp fires in several areas of the property as well as the use of gas-powered generators.

A toilet seat over an open pit in the ground

In June, city officials urged Ansari to work with the police department to clear up the violations. But another site visit in September found the violations were still there. During that four-month time span, the Redding Fire Department reported there had been 33 fire or medical emergencies on the property, while the police department reported 39 calls for service to the area. Citations and city orders to get the property in compliance followed.

However, authorities' visit to the 187 Sulphur Creek Road site on Dec. 15 found numerous camping sites, trash, evidence of fire activity and "a bathroom building with a toilet seat over an open pit in the ground."

Code enforcement staff issued a second administrative compliance order in mid-December, giving Ansari 22 days to get in compliance.

The Code Enforcement Division is recommending penalties in the amount of $1,000 for failureto meet compliance by the 30-day and 22-day compliance due dates (Dec. 5, 2022, andDec. 27, 2022).

All violations remained on Dec. 6, 2022, and Jan. 17, the city's report said.

If full compliance is not achieved by Feb. 23, staff is recommending the imposition of additional penalties of $100 per day, starting on Feb. 24, up to a maximum of $100,000.

Michele Chandler covers criminal justice issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She welcomes story tips at 530-338-7753, at michele.chandler@redding.com or on Twitter at @MChandler_RS. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Owner of squalid Redding land gets more time to clean up before fined