The San Diego City Attorney’s Office is seeking to have a receiver take control of a vacant North Park residential property that has allegedly become the site of criminal activity, a fire, a raw sewage leak, and other hazardous conditions.
The property at 3384-3386 Dale Street came under investigation in 2024 after neighbors reported squatters on the property who were allegedly “fighting at all hours of the day and night,” cutting off locks and using blow torches, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
Between November of 2023 and April of this year, police have received 48 calls for service and spent over 340 hours investigating criminal activity there, including reports of trespassing, break-ins, narcotics activity, and domestic violence, according to a civil enforcement action filed by the City Attorney’s Office.
The complaint claims inspectors found unpermitted plumbing and electrical work and a severed sewer line spewing raw sewage into the yard. A fire also broke out in the summer of 2024, after which the structure was “red- tagged” due to its dangerous condition.
The City Attorney’s Office said the property’s owner, who also owns other properties across San Diego, failed to remedy the home’s issues, including the fire damage or sewage spill.
Along with the appointment of a receiver, who would hire contractors to remedy the property’s issues, the City Attorney’s Office seeks to have the property declared a public nuisance, bar the owner from similar municipal code violations within the city, and impose civil penalties of up to $2,500 daily for each violation.
“Neighbors on Dale Street have lived next to raw sewage, a burned-out building, and constant break-in attempts for more than two years,” San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement, “When a property owner refuses to fix dangerous conditions, my office will ask the court to put the property in the hands of someone who will.”