Owners of vacant properties in Orange will be required to secure and repair their buildings and clean up any graffiti and debris or face thousands of dollars in fines and fees as elected officials look to generate new revenue amid a longtime structural deficit.
Officials are moving forward with the proposed citywide law to crack down on unkept vacant and abandoned properties they say are a source of blight and hotbeds for drugs, vandalism and trash that drains city resources, deters investment and plummets property values.
On Tuesday, Orange City Council members voted 6-0-1 to introduce an ordinance without much debate aimed at holding property owners accountable for not maintaining and securing empty buildings to prevent blight or nuisances
Councilman Denis Bilodeau was absent from the meeting.
“These properties often attract illegal activities such as trespassing, vandalism, criminal and drug activity, fire hazards, and other public safety concerns. They also create nuisance conditions including overgrown vegetation, illegal dumping, litter, graffiti, structural deterioration, and unsecured buildings,” reads a staff report.
“Over time, these conditions diminish property values, limit housing and commercial opportunities, deter investment, and adversely impact the City’s economic development and tax revenue.”
Under a resolution introduced with the ordinance, property owners could face up to $5,000 in fines for violating the law and face up to over $1,300 in weekly monitoring fees until they fall into compliance with the regulation.
Rafael Perez, City Code Compliance manager, said the main goal for the ordinance is compliance.
“To the extent that some individual property owner refuses or fails to comply, then this would certainly hit them in the pocket,” he said.
According to a staff report, there are 230 vacant or abandoned properties in the city with a bulk of them – 165 – being empty commercial store fronts.
Cracking Down on Unoccupied Storefronts
Under the ordinance, a property will be considered vacant if it’s been abandoned or empty for more than a month.
Property owners would have to clear out and cut overgrown shrubbery – ensuring the dying vegetation isn’t blocking sidewalks or exceeding a certain height under the new law.
They will also have to ensure the exterior paint on the building along with the roof, windows, doors, patios, and fences are all in good condition. Pools will also have to be cleaned and free of insects and pollutants.
Property owners will also have to secure the windows, gates and doors, remove broken down vehicles and old signs and install cameras to monitor the property.
For empty storefronts, owners will be required to have fake displays or install paintings for any window visible from the sidewalks.
Under the law, code enforcement officers will inspect the buildings and categorize them as either a stable property, at-risk property or problematic property with the latter two subject to fines and additional fees until owners fall into compliance.
Property owners would also be given an opportunity to appeal the fees.
The ordinance would not apply to buildings actively under construction, apartments or houses actively listed for sale or rent and for properties where the owner is actively seeking a certain permit or license.
Orange Seeks New Revenue Amid Budget Woes
Earlier this month, Orange council members adopted their 2026-27 fiscal year budget after eliminating and freezing $6 million in vacant positions and transferring $15 million from three different spending buckets to balance the city’s books.
Officials also placed a one-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot that, if approved by voters, would last 13 years and bring in around $37 million annually.
It’s not the only tax measure voters can expect to see on the ballot.
Elected leaders in May also placed a separate ballot measure on the ballot that would raise the hotel tax from 10% to 14% for hotels with 11 rooms or more.
The measures are a couple of the ideas Orange leaders floated earlier this year to bring in new revenue to help curb their longtime structural deficit.
Orange officials also previously discussed taxing the owners of vacant properties and cataloguing empty lots to bring in more money, but the idea faced criticism from the Apartment Association of OC.
“If you create a document that can be public records requested of vacant properties – vacant units – you’re basically inviting squatters and the problem with squatters is you cannot get them out other than through the eviction process, which takes six to nine months,” said Chip Ahlswede, a spokesman for the association, to the city council in May.
“You’re condemning the property owners, if you go with this registry.”
Perez said Tuesday they removed the registry aspect due to the association’s concerns.
Laura Taylor, a resident that lives near the former Orange Mall, urged council members to adopt the ordinance saying the mall has been a hotbed for homeless encampments, drugs, prostitution, litter, human waste and public intoxication.
“The wealthy owners and their property managers made it clear through the continued neglect of their properties, that they do not care,” she said.
“Hopefully, this ordinance will send a clear, persistent, and, if necessary, expensive message to negligent property owners that Orange will not tolerate the blight any longer.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
