Manteca’s economic game plan is more than just landing a water park resort and additional distribution centers.

It is also focusing on problematic vacant properties that are hindering investment in downtown.

The city’s economic strategy as outlined during last month’s City Council mid-year budget review includes addressing what many contend is the city’s most problematic building — the two-story fire gutted Sycamore Arms that has been shuttered since a fire in November of 2015.

City Manager Tim Ogden noted municipal staff will work with the property owners to try and turn the property around. If not, the fallback will be the new city ordinance that went into effect this month. The City Council approved the measure in January that gives the council the legal authority to conduct public hearings to order the abatement of problem properties. If the owner fails to comply within a specific time frame the council can order that city repair or demolish the building and place a lien against the property allowing the costs of the abatement to be reimbursed through the San Joaquin County property tax roll. 

While no deadline was expressed for pulling the trigger on the new ordinance should efforts to help the property owner find solutions to address the structure at Yosemite and Sycamore avenues fail, city leaders have made it clear they have no stomach for a repeat of the aftermath of the El Rey Theatre fire on Aug. 6, 1975. The gutted and boarded up structure was a cancerous blight on downtown for 23 years before being resurrected as Kelly Brothers Brewing Co. & Brickyard Oven Restaurant.

Mayor Steve DeBrum Sunday indicated Manteca had to have the right tools in place before an effective solution could be pursued “without causing pain or undo suffering to anyone.”

DeBrum and the rest of the council — just like their predecessors — have made it clear they don’t want to drop the hammer with abatement proceedings to demolish structures until all other avenues have been exhausted.

The city has been citing the owner for violations regarding property upkeep and safety issues as they have surfaced. Because an effort wasn’t made to move forward with repairing fire damage to the 15 efficiency apartments on the second floor and downstairs commercial space, the owner effectively lost the right to use to restore the structure to continue accommodate living quarters. Such a use no longer conforms to zoning for the downtown core and had been grandfathered in. After a building with a non-conforming use sustains major damage such as from a fire, steps to repair the structure must be made within a year to retain the non-conforming use.

While the Sycamore Arms building is not currently in danger of a structural collapse, it is not suitable for occupancy. 

Manteca Police have responded to numerous reports of homeless breaking into the building to use it as a flophouse. Neighboring merchants have complained it has been used as a base for criminal activities including breaking into adjacent stores. It has also deterred outside investors from nearby properties/

Manteca firefighters have expressed concern that another fire at the structure could spread quickly given the 200 block of West Yosemite have buildings abutting each other that were built before modern fire wall standards were put in place.

Over the years there have been a half dozen fires started by the homeless in vacant structures that have since been torn down. The homeless are believed culpable in burning down a meat processing building that was in the process of being sold on West Yosemite Avenue next to Cabral Motors.

Law enforcement experts repeatedly reference the “broken window theory” in explaining how crime takes root. Simply said, if blight is allowed to go unchecked it spread like a cancer breeding crime and driving down property values and the quality of life.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com