BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Apartments for the homeless in Palo Alto have cockroaches, fruit flies and plumbing issues, according to a city inspection.
Abode Housing CEO Vivian Wan said her nonprofit is working to fix the issues at the Opportunity Center, but some tenants have resisted pest control.
Code Enforcement Officer Craig Hartley said he found a sink that doesn’t have cold water, a leaky shower, an unsealed bathtub and a hole in a bathroom wall.
The city first issued a notice of violation on April 28 for mold in three hallways and apartments from the second to fifth floor at 33 Encina Ave.
Abode Housing appealed the notice, so Hartley re-inspected the building on June 4 and 10 and issued a new notice on July 6.
Hartley said he found cockroaches in 12 apartments, fruit flies in two apartments and a urine odor in one apartment.
Hartley gave Abode Housing until July 27 to fix any plumbing fixtures and repair any water damage and until Aug. 5 to address the pests.
“A licensed pest control operator must attempt to treat each of the affected units,” Hartley said. “Any refusal of pest
control treatment by a resident must be documented.”
Abode Housing can face $1,000 fines per day for the violations, Hartley said.
Wan said Abode Housing is almost done with the plumbing issues and still working on pest control. She said some pest companies have declined the work because tenants have resisted treatment.
“I’m confident that we’ll correct all the issues … We want to do right by the tenants,” she said in an interview.
The Opportunity Center is a five-story, 88-unit apartment building for people at risk of being homeless, next to the Town and Country Shopping Center.
Abode Housing runs the apartments, and the nonprofit LifeMoves offers services on the first floor.
The building opened in 2006. About 60% of construction costs were paid for by public money, and 40% was covered by donors. Tenants pay rent based on their income.
Typical public housing project. On its way to becoming a dangerous ghetto.
Hey, whatever happened to the idea that this place would provide “transitional housing” to help the homeless get on their feet in a few months? Instead this place is full of people who stay for years on end.