Santa Maria sues a man over the condition of his home

The neighborhood immediately surrounding North Thornburg Street consists of one-story homes, manicured hedges, and mothers pushing their babies in strollers down the sidewalk. But one house on the block seems out of place.

The windows are broken, boarded-up from the inside. The lawn is covered with weeds. The half white, half pastel-green-colored house looks abandoned, but it’s not. Hearing a knock on the front door, an older gentleman with an untrimmed mustache sporting an Oakland A’s cap answers. It’s Mark Burgess, the homeowner. Burgess is the target of Santa Maria officials who are trying to get him to clean up his property on North Thornburg Street. But it’s not so easy for Burgess, who said he’s trying to scrape together the money he needs for repairs.

click to enlarge Santa Maria sues a man over the condition of his home
PHOTO BY DAVID MINSKY
HOME WORK: Jose Resendez (left) and Mark Burgess (right) said they are slowly making progress on citymandated repairs to their house on North Thornburg Street.

From a period between December 2009 and November of 2014, the city issued Burgess a slew of code citations because—among other things—the home was missing vertical support beams, had broken windows, and even accumulated trash and human waste in the yard. In addition to the citations stacked against him, the city is also suing Burgess. In the lawsuit filed Nov. 18 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, the city claims Burgess’s home is a public nuisance, citing the “presence of junk, trash … as well as offensive smells noticeable beyond the property.”

Philip Sinco, an assistant city attorney, said he was asked to pursue a legal remedy against Burgess.

Code compliance has been working especially hard on the Burgess house since April, when an employee from the water department contacted the office saying the water meter had been turned on three times after it was turned off because the bills weren’t paid. Code officer Celia Lennon was dispatched to the house. She said the house on Thornburg may be the worst case of health and safety violations she’s ever seen.

“This one is pretty bad,” Lennon said. “I think this is one of the only cases I’ve seen where people have used the backyard as a bathroom.”

Lennon followed up on her original visit, making a second trip to the property on Oct. 23. Upon arrival, she heard what sounded like buzzing sounds coming from behind the house. Knowing that the backyard was being used as a toilet and may be attracting flies, she figured someone had installed an electric flytrap. But she reported finding a set of jumper cables supplying electricity to Burgess’ home from his neighbor’s house. The setup blew a transformer, and Pacific Gas and Electric was called to cut power to his house.

Since then, the house has been yellow-tagged, which means it’s unlivable until repairs are made.

This is a problem for 54-year-old Burgess, who said that he has virtually no money and no other place to live. It’s been his home since his parents passed away 15 years ago. Burgess said that police officers show up in the middle of the night, pull him out of his home, and ask questions.

“Sounds like harassment, you know?” he said. “It is harassment. It’s not fair, I’m trying to fix up my house.”

He doesn’t live alone, either. Two other people, including roommate Jose Resendez, live with him. Besides lacking electricity, all three occupants live without water, gas, or garbage services. Resendez said Burgess is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Some Catholic charities came up with a little money to help him get the water turned back on. Aside from finding occasional employment at a nearby florist, Burgess said he recently received some income from a retirement fund. But it may not be enough. In total, the cost of repairs would amount to thousands of dollars. Lennon said licensed electricians and plumbers and permits are needed to make the fixes.

Several of Burgess’s neighbors said they’ve grown tired of the living situation and also alleged that unsavory people frequent the home day and night. In addition to the smell of burning garbage and the loud noises at night, neighbors said they sometimes find small, suspicious plastic baggies and once even allegedly found a crack pipe in the yard.

One neighbor, an older man who did not want to give his name, said he’s known Burgess for years and thinks he fell in with some bad company and is being taken advantage of due to his loneliness.

“We tried to be friends with them, but it’s not about friendship,” the man said. “It’s about what they do inside the house.”

City Attorney Sinco can’t speculate on what will eventually happen to Burgess, but one possibility is that the city could take over the property.

 

Contact Staff Writer David Minsky 
at [email protected].

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