Signal Hill City Council voted Tuesday to give a self-storage facility that has been the ongoing subject of complaints by local residents until Feb. 1 to show proof that it is making changes to the property.
Residents have alleged that Signal Hill Self-Storage doesn’t properly maintain the facility, and City documents show that people living in the storage units were evicted in March 2023.
Residents have also complained about vehicles stored in the facility’s outdoor parking lot despite parking spaces available in the underground parking structure, customers coming and going outside of the hours of operation, street parking spaces being used by customers to load and unload items and a shower located within the storage facility.
City staff said a total of 38 complaints were made to the City concerning Signal Hill Self-Storage, and City staff said Tuesday that two residents have submitted 16 complaints since Sept. 16. The Signal Tribune has obtained email complaints to the City of around double that amount in the same time frame.
If the necessary actions aren’t taken by Feb. 1, the City said it will issue Signal Hill Self-Storage citations for each violation, daily, until the problems are fixed. Citations can cost between $100 and $500 per day.
When the Signal Tribune asked the City Manager what the next steps of enforcement would be in noncompliance continued past Feb. 1, they were told “The City does not have additional direction beyond which the City Council provided during its deliberation.”
The City also stated the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to reimpose a condition that SHSS must conduct its activities on the Pacific Coast Highway side, a condition that has already been set but not followed. No date is currently set for that public hearing.
In December, the Signal Hill Planning Commission voted to give the storage facility no more than three months to make the necessary changes. However, on Tuesday, the City Council voted to move the deadline up to Feb. 1.
City staff said that inspections of the storage facility were conducted on Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 of 2023, and that noncompliance was found during both visits. The City also observed violations of the business’ conditional use permit and sent notices to the facility in 2022, according to staff reports.
“I just want to say I’m disappointed,” said Mayor Lori Woods. “I think that we as a council […] kind of stuck our neck out in favor of this, being business friendly, […] over the advice of our planning commission and over multiple resident concerns.”
When the Signal Tribune asked the City Manager what the next steps of enforcement would be in noncompliance continued past Feb. 1, they were told “The City does not have additional direction beyond which the City Council provided during its deliberation.”
Signal Hill Self-Storage now has until Feb. 1 to remove all motor vehicles stored in its outdoor parking lot, obtain a permit to remove the facility’s shower, and provide the City with proof that it has obtained the pink slip for the boat in the parking lot.
When asked why it was taking so long to get the boat removed from the property, the district manager for Signal Hill Self-Storage, John Romero, said the boat was abandoned by a former customer, and Signal Hill Self-Storage was unable to do anything with it while the former customer went through the process of declaring bankruptcy.
Romero said Signal Hill Self-Storage obtained the pink slip and became the official owner of the boat last week. Romero told the City Council that it will cost between $7,000 and $12,000 to have the boat removed from the storage facility’s parking lot.
City staff told the City Council that Signal Hill Self-Storage was instructed to provide proof that it now had the boat’s pink slip, but had not yet done so.
Councilmember Keir Jones asked why the storage facility had a shower to begin with. City staff explained that the building used to be used as a convalescent home, and the shower used by that business wasn’t removed from the property once it became a storage facility.
Signal Hill Self-Storage was ordered to remove the shower. However, City staff said that the business had tried to remove the shower, but was ordered to stop after the City learned Signal Hill Self-Storage did not have a permit to remove the showers. Signal Hill Self-Storage is now required to obtain a permit and show proof to the City by Feb. 1.
During the summer, the Signal Hill Planning Commission originally recommended that the City Council order Signal Hill Self-Storage to permanently close its entrance on Ellis Avenue, which faces a residential area.
The City Council instead decided to allow the entrance to remain as long as the facility required a PIN code to enter, kept comprehensive logs about when customers enter and leave the facility, was able to provide photos from security cameras to verify the logs, and always had a staff member on-site to monitor the property.
“I just want to say I’m disappointed. I think that we as a council […] kind of stuck our neck out in favor of this, being business friendly, […] over the advice of our planning commission and over multiple resident concerns.”
-Mayor Lori Woods
During inspections, the property was found to not have any employees on site, and that its entrance and exit logs were inadequate. Both actions are requirements laid out in the company’s current Conditional Use Permit. The City has not revoked a Conditional Use Permit in over a decade.
In light of Signal Hill Self-Storage’s noncompliance, City Council members discussed following the Planning Commission’s original recommendation to close the Ellis Avenue entrance to the storage facility.
Councilmembers voted to send the issue back to the Planning Commission for discussion, after which the commission will present its findings and recommendations to the City Council again.
A version of this article ran in the Jan. 26 edition of the Signal Tribune. This article was updated afterwards with information given in a response from the City Manager.
Rat infestation! I complained and Mr. Romero yelled and cursed me and my movers. I took pics from fhe damage.