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I want to know if city building officials have a) seen this house unfinished in Point Loma and b) when or if they would do anything about it (or any of the other projects that are stalled around the city).
I haven’t heard back from the officials in charge of building permits yet, but I did get to chat yesterday with Bob Vacchi, the city’s neighborhood code compliance chief.
I asked him if he knew what house I was talking about. Before I could even say a street name, he jumped in.
“I drive right by it every day,” he said.
So what happens now?
“Usually we only get involved if it’s vacant and unsecured, or it for some reason it becomes a public nuisance,” he said.
If the building permits on the house are still active, then the officials I’m waiting to hear from are the ones who would monitor the property. But if Vacchi’s department noticed the house wasn’t properly boarded up or if there were squatters living in the project, there could be some code enforcement. He said whoever owns the property after foreclosure, like the bank, typically must file a statement of intent with the city that says what is planned for the project in the future.
Vacchi said foreclosures on unfinished construction projects has become a trend across the city — as we’ve noticed.
“People go over the amount they had construction loans for and then they just let it go,” he said.
I asked Vacchi, since he sees the project every day, if he’s noticed anything untoward about the property.
“To me, for a construction project, it doesn’t look like it’s in bad shape,” he said.
When I hear from the officials who oversee building permits, I’ll let you know.
— KELLY BENNETT