New program will spruce up city

Bryce Alderton

City officials have just added a new weapon to their arsenal in the

fight to keep Surf City beautiful.

The Neighborhood Preservation Program is designed to get into the

rundown areas and clean them up from the inside out.

The program, created by Bill Zylla, is based on the idea that if city

officials, residents and property owners join forces they, as a team, can

prevent homes from becoming eyesores.

The city already has a Public Nuisance Task Force made up of city

planners, members of the police and fire departments and public works

officials. That task force is charged with identifying individual homes

that lack maintenance and could adversely affect the health and safety of

a surrounding area, said Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Bauer. The task force doles

out citations to such property owners.

Zylla’s neighborhood preservation program, approved by City Council in

2000 with Zylla as its manger, will give the task force a hand in keeping

the city neat and clean.

As part of the program, Zylla is forming a new task force made up of

police officers and other city officials who will be charged with

initiating meetings with residents and property owners, and sending

letters to residents identifying common concerns among neighborhoods.

The new task force will also inform property owners of grants that

could be available if they are unable to foot the bill for repairs to the

property, Zylla said.

“The idea of [the preservation program] has been around for four or

five years but it was never this formal,” Bauer said. “Now we’ve hired

somebody to develop resources to upgrade a neighborhood.”

Zylla is studying the age of the city’s neighborhoods and how many

citations are issued in each area.

Once this study is complete and the connections formed, the task force

will begin establishing neighborhood groups to list their own goals,

objectives and priorities.

The task force will review a group’s priorities and help set up

neighborhood events like barbecues and block parties to further community

pride.

“We’re not in there saying, ‘Your neighborhood was chosen as the worst

area in Huntington Beach,”’ Zylla said. “We want them to come to us and

say, ‘What can we do to make it better?’ We’re not changing the character

of the neighborhood, but rather improving the quality of life.”

Property owners recently painted garages and removed graffiti from

walls surrounding 116 multifamily residences near Warner and Newland

avenues.

* BRYCE ALDERTON is the news assistant. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at bryce.alderton@latimes.com