Fighting Blight...with Giant Wrapped Billboards?!
This is so dystopian that no amateur could make it up.
Not “compel property owners to keep their properties in reasonable repair”.
Not “compel property owners to properly secure empty buildings”.
Not “impose a vacancy tax on chronically empty buildings”.
Not even “enforce the city’s existing laws” (and presumably collect all the fines the city foolishly leaves on the table by failing to do its job).
Oh no. Rodriguez and Hutt want to cover nuisance buildings in giant wrapped billboards.
Not only is this not going to solve the problem, it would not necessarily be difficult to break into a wrapped building. Wraps are generally made of heavy-duty PVC mesh, which goes on a scaffold. A few slashes of a sharp blade could cut right through that, allowing an access point (assuming the ground level is even wrapped, which it might not be). Those buildings WILL still get squatters, and the wraps will make it harder for neighbors to notice and report the problem.
Imagine not noticing squatters in that one nuisance building on your street until it’s too late and a wrapped billboard is melting off of it during a fire. That, dear readers, is where this ridiculous motion is likely headed.
You know what DOES “address blight and promote community safety”?
Filling empty buildings with new tenants.
Securing and fencing off nuisance buildings when owners fail to maintain them appropriately.
Holding bad owners legally and financially accountable for allowing a nuisance to develop (even the threat of consequences might stop a few bad eggs in their tracks).
Keeping community spaces clean and well-maintained so community members use them more often and for more of the day.
Fixing broken streetlights promptly.
Billboards don’t keep us safe, but some common-sense solutions just might.