Orangevale Neighborhood Is Fed Up With Abandoned House Attracting Crime

ORANGEVALE (CBS13) — Residents in an Orangevale neighborhood have been complaining for years that an abandoned home is a magnet for crime and a danger to the community. Now the county is stepping in and the property could soon be demolished.

The boarded-up abandoned house sits on the 2100 block of Beech Avenue.

For years they say transients and addicts have squatted on the property, littering junk and drug paraphernalia everywhere. And despite repeated efforts by law enforcement to clear it out, they keep coming back. Now residents want the place torn down.

Gary Burns is the founder of the Orangevale Neighborhood Watch. He says a fire on the property last year was the last straw.

"I think that would be an excellent start. Right now it's a very big safety concern for our community." Burns said.

After years of phone calls and social media campaigns, Burns says they finally got the county's attention.

"Having a fire here really opened up everyone's eyes as to the dangers that this type of thing could really bring," Burns said.

Matt Hedges is Chief of Staff for the Sacramento County Supervisors Office. Earlier this week he met with the homeowner and District Attorney's Office to resolve the issue once and for all.

"You're looking at needles, you're looking at these drug addicts. We've had a member of the community get attacked by somebody near that house," Hedges said.

In a cooperative effort, the county agreed to help streamline the owners' demolition paperwork, and the homeowner agreed to invest and build value in its place.

"He wants to build an elderly care facility, which we are desperately in need of in this community, but he keeps running into problems in getting it demolished. And so we flipped the cycle of let's penalize the owner and force them into action, so let's help them get to the finish line here," Hedges said.

Hedges says any retirement facility proposal would still have to go through the proper approval process. He says he plans to meet with the homeowner again next week to finalize plans for demolition.