City of Sacramento yet to take action on south Natomas illegal backyard extensions
SACRAMENTO — Weeks after the City of Sacramento said it was cracking down on illegal backyards, CBS13 has learned it has not even started taking any action.
"As long as the city's budget is not here, why do they want us to stop doing this?" said George Azar, who has had an encroachment along Ninos Parkway for over 20 years.
It has been a decades-long double backyard debate along Ninos Parkway in south Natomas, and people like Azar said they have invested practically $25,000 out of their pockets to maintain the city property behind their backyard fence.
"It started out with a small patch of grass," he said. "It's just little by little, it's grown over the years and we do this for the community."
On May 16, the City of Sacramento told us in an email that it was actively working to issue letters to the residents who have illegal backyards in the area.
"It is an ongoing issue," said Mayor Pro Tem Karina Talamantes, who is the councilwoman for this south Natomas community.
When we met with her in early June, she told us that the city parks department planned to send the encroachment letters within the month. It is now mid-July and no letters have gone out to homeowners, according to Talamantes.
"We need to make sure we have a policy in place that treats everyone equally," Talamantes said.
Talamantes said city staff has yet to agree on that policy.
The City of Sacramento gave us this statement on July 17:
"The City is working across multiple departments to finalize our process for addressing the remaining encroachments along Ninos Parkway and will share more information as it becomes available. We anticipate this happening in the coming months."
Azar said past city administrations asked them to remove permanent structures like barbecues and basketball courts, to which some neighbors complied.
"We're not trying to keep people out," Azar said. "We're just trying to keep it safe out here."
His big concerns have been over fire danger and people camping out behind his home.
Former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo provided more on the history to CBS13. She said they did notify residents about the encroachments, but also said residents were concerned for their safety.
Fargo provided this statement:
"We didn't see any advantage in forcing removal of the improvements that were considered positive and more than the city was willing to do."
There is no timeline for when the letters will go out to residents with illegal backyard extensions. Past letters that have been issued by code enforcement have given residents 60 days to make the fix or else the city could pursue legal action. Legal action has never been taken over this issue.
"If we receive a notice, I will get ahold of my councilwoman and we will sit down and have a conversation like we always have," Azar said.