LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. (KERO) — Residents told 23ABC the property located at 5334 Lake Isabella Boulevard in Lake Isabella has been a nuisance for years.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There’s a new view from Lake Isabella Boulevard and Jerry Avenue after a long-abandoned building was demolished.
“I’m obviously elated, because just look at it, it looks amazing but it is bittersweet. It was sad to see the building go just knowing there had once been many flourishing businesses in the past.”
Stepenie Blankenship is the owner of Sequoia Mountain Apothecary, a business just across the street from the abandoned building. She says the abandoned building was filled with trash and became a place where people used drugs.
“It did affect my business. I had people come in saying they didn’t want to park here because they didn’t feel so safe.”
The property had sat empty for years and it was a long road towards demolition. In an interview with Kern County Code Compliance earlier this year, an official told me the property owner was completely unresponsive to Code Compliance.
Earlier this year, after several fires that had started at the property, Code Compliance made the case that the building was a public safety hazard – that case ultimately leading to the demolition of the structure.
“It was such an eyesore when people drive down the boulevard, they can freely drive down the boulevard, and yeah they may see the motel, but they don’t see two buildings right after the other in total disarray.”
A motel next door has been abandoned for years, but Kern County Code Compliance has told me the owners of the property are local and responsive to requests from Code Compliance, making it unlikely that it will face a similar fate. But for now, a sigh of relief for Blankenship.
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