San Mateo properties deemed to be public nuisance

A home on Engle Road and El Camino Real was deemed a public nuisance after raw sewage bubbling up under the structure and in the yard prompted the tenant to complain to San Mateo code enforcement officers.

When a code enforcement officer came to inspect the home in November, however, he found numerous other violations on the property related to plumbing, electrical work and gas lines all done without proper permits.

The San Mateo Community Improvement Commission ordered the property owner Wednesday night to clean up the mess on the Engle Road site and adjacent home on East Santa Inez Avenue and El Camino Real owned by Tony Gundogdu and his wife.

Code enforcement found that critical electrical and gas line work done on the Engle Road property was done so without the proper permits.

Gundogdu pledged to clean up both properties by April 13 or face fines. Wednesday’s appeal hearing cost Gundogdu $2,000 and he could be forced to pay the city an additional $5,000 if work on the property goes beyond April 13. The Gundogdus face a $100 a day fine after April 13 if the work is not complete, according to a staff report.

"We will clean the property. I will do whatever it takes,” Gundogdu said.

Code enforcement found unsafe electrical, unsafe plumbing, improper and unsafe appliance installations, improper furnace installation and improper hot water heater installation during its inspection, said Donn Lovell, code enforcement officer.

Gundogdu told the commission he did not want to invest too much into the properties since they have been approved for demolition by the city to be replaced by six townhomes.

"I have built some first-class, high-quality restaurants in the area,” Gundogdu told commissioners Wednesday night. The Gundogdus own Ristorante Piacere in San Carlos.

But Commissioner Sybil Bolivar chastised the restaurant owner for not getting over-the-counter permits needed by a contractor to do substantial home improvements.

"You must know permits are required since you’ve built first-class restaurants,” Bolivar said.

The property on Engle Road had at least 17 code violations, according to a staff report.

The tenant told commissioners she had called the landlord numerous times over the course of about a year but never heard from him or even seen him before.

"This is the first time I have ever seen the landlord,” the tenant said Wednesday night.

The Engle property has a long list of code problems with the city dating back more than a decade, although the Gundogdus have only owned the property since 2007.

In 2006, when the home was owned by someone else, code enforcement discovered a group of homeless people living in the home, according to the staff report.

Several exterior cover plates and vent screens were missing or broken allowing for insects and vermin to access the property, according to the staff report.

The Gundogdus hired a general contractor to bring the properties back up to code.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.