Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

AT&T building still a “public nuisance” in North Park?

Homeless sleep on premises amid graffiti, trash, and urine

Homeless individuals sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building.
Homeless individuals sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building.

The unused AT&T (formerly Pacific Bell) building in North Park continues to have homeless transients, graffiti, the smell of urine, and trash. The fortress-like structure — a perfect canvas for taggers — is located at 4220 Arizona Street. Graffiti attacks have been ongoing for several years.

The empty parking lot is fenced and gated to keep out trespassers, but homeless individuals regularly sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building. Taggers have defaced the building and mailbox multiple times and tagged for-sale signs erected by CB Richard Ellis.

Responsibility for investigating possible violations is the Neighborhood Code Compliance Department. Enforcement and fines are authorized under San Diego Municipal Code 54.0313.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The half-square-block property is not considered “abandoned” under the city's ordinance passed last October, but under the “vacant properties program” instituted in 1996, it could be considered a “blight and eyesore to the community.” And it might “pose serious threats to the public's health, safety and welfare of surrounding residents and adjacent properties.”

Scott E. Grant lives on Arizona Street across from the building. In an interview, Grant said that police have responded to his complaints in the past about “loudly arguing” homeless trespassers, but, he said, “AT&T is ultimately responsible” for dealing with conditions there. “It's their property.”

Steve Aldana, information manager with the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, said, “It is obviously the responsibility of the property owner, so we would expect that AT&T would take care of it. That being said, they have a long history of ignoring these responsibilities all over the country.”

As for interested buyers, Aldana said, “We had a meeting with a developer who was in escrow on the two parcels a couple months ago but haven't heard an update. For years, we have considered the property a huge development opportunity waiting to happen.” Grant thinks the building “would make a good police substation” and suggested AT&T donate the property to the city.

District 3 councilmember (and council president) Todd Gloria was asked for comment. Gloria's spokesperson Katie Keach said his North Park representative “indicated that he received no recent complaints about the property but had followed up with AT&T.”

AT&T's San Diego spokesperson Lane Kasselman responded: “When AT&T is made aware of the occasional homeless presence by either AT&T personnel or the community, we alert the San Diego Police Department,” Kasselman wrote. “AT&T has also asked the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) to increase their patrols of the property and area."

In a related matter, T-Mobile currently operates cell-phone antennas on the building and has applied for a neighborhood use permit to upgrade them. That decision by the city's development services department is expected by April.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Homeless individuals sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building.
Homeless individuals sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building.

The unused AT&T (formerly Pacific Bell) building in North Park continues to have homeless transients, graffiti, the smell of urine, and trash. The fortress-like structure — a perfect canvas for taggers — is located at 4220 Arizona Street. Graffiti attacks have been ongoing for several years.

The empty parking lot is fenced and gated to keep out trespassers, but homeless individuals regularly sleep near the entrance and on the side of the building. Taggers have defaced the building and mailbox multiple times and tagged for-sale signs erected by CB Richard Ellis.

Responsibility for investigating possible violations is the Neighborhood Code Compliance Department. Enforcement and fines are authorized under San Diego Municipal Code 54.0313.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The half-square-block property is not considered “abandoned” under the city's ordinance passed last October, but under the “vacant properties program” instituted in 1996, it could be considered a “blight and eyesore to the community.” And it might “pose serious threats to the public's health, safety and welfare of surrounding residents and adjacent properties.”

Scott E. Grant lives on Arizona Street across from the building. In an interview, Grant said that police have responded to his complaints in the past about “loudly arguing” homeless trespassers, but, he said, “AT&T is ultimately responsible” for dealing with conditions there. “It's their property.”

Steve Aldana, information manager with the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, said, “It is obviously the responsibility of the property owner, so we would expect that AT&T would take care of it. That being said, they have a long history of ignoring these responsibilities all over the country.”

As for interested buyers, Aldana said, “We had a meeting with a developer who was in escrow on the two parcels a couple months ago but haven't heard an update. For years, we have considered the property a huge development opportunity waiting to happen.” Grant thinks the building “would make a good police substation” and suggested AT&T donate the property to the city.

District 3 councilmember (and council president) Todd Gloria was asked for comment. Gloria's spokesperson Katie Keach said his North Park representative “indicated that he received no recent complaints about the property but had followed up with AT&T.”

AT&T's San Diego spokesperson Lane Kasselman responded: “When AT&T is made aware of the occasional homeless presence by either AT&T personnel or the community, we alert the San Diego Police Department,” Kasselman wrote. “AT&T has also asked the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) to increase their patrols of the property and area."

In a related matter, T-Mobile currently operates cell-phone antennas on the building and has applied for a neighborhood use permit to upgrade them. That decision by the city's development services department is expected by April.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.