City code-enforcement staff described the process and limits for addressing large vacant commercial parcels with overgrown vegetation and illegal dumping.

Sherry Strong, division manager with Houston Public Works Community Code Enforcement, said inspectors visited a large, fenced commercial site on Sackawood Street and found four parcels under at least two corporate owners. Strong said the properties were placarded, notices sent to corporate owners and the agency will perform a check-back inspection in about 10 days; if owners do not respond or a plan is not provided the city will abate the property and place a lien on it.

Strong explained that corporations frequently transfer ownership from one LLC to another, complicating identification of a responsible owner for abatement and delaying due-process steps. She said the city must notify owners and provide legal due process before abating. Bobby Darden of 311 clarified that the city’s intake system routes requests to implementing departments and that some cases appear as “closed” in the intake system while the work order remains pending in other departmental systems such as CityWorks.

Strong said that if the city does not receive contact by the check-back date it will move forward with abatement and lien placement. She encouraged residents to report properties via 311 so departments can create work orders and begin legal notification.