This story originally appeared in the Friday, May 15, Daily Post print edition. If you want to get important local news stories first, pick up the Post in the mornings.
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Twenty apartments for the homeless in Palo Alto are growing mold, according to a notice of violation issued by the city.
The Opportunity Center at 33 Encina Ave. also has unpermitted repairs and clogged storm drains, Code Enforcement Supervisor Elisa Vargas said in an April 28 notice to Abode Housing, the nonprofit that runs the apartments.
Vargas gave the Abode Housing until May 29 to address the issues or face $2,000 fines per day.
Abode Housing is appealing the notice because it includes unsubstantiated claims and units that haven’t been affected, spokesman Chris De Benedetti said in an email.
Affected tenants have been offered comparable apartments while their homes are being remediated, and no one has been displaced, De Benedetti said.
“The lives of many of our residents have been marked by trauma and we are focused on supporting them. We care deeply about the health and safety of our tenants,” he said. “These complaints are often more complex than they might seem on the surface … We have been working diligently with the city and our tenants to address any issues raised.”
Vargas said the city received complaints about the Opportunity Center in October and conducted multiple inspections that found water damage and mold in three hallways and apartments from the second to fifth floor.
Follow-up inspections found water damage in a medical clinic and a manager’s office on the first floor, according to city records.
The Opportunity Center needs to clear storm drains on the west side of the building and re-grade decomposed granite on the south side that isn’t draining, Vargas said.
The Opportunity Center will need a professional to clear each apartment of moisture and mold, Vargas said.
Opportunity Center representatives met with a building inspector on Wednesday to get a permit to replace water-damaged sheet rock and insulation in 11 apartments and community rooms on the first and second floor, city records show.
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.
This was supposed to be “transitional housing,” where a person off the street could live while they got a job and found a permanent place to live. Instead there are residents who have lived there 10 years. They need to find a place to live, or leave town on the Greyhound bus that brought them here. Their rooms should be given to the current group of homeless people.
*** Also, no drugs or alcohol should be allowed in this place. ***
If mold needs to be removed, the current residents should be given instructions on remediation and the tools to remove the mold. No need to hire outside help. We taxpayers have been generous enough. Time for a little “tough love”.