Will the owner of a “perpetual remodel” on Plum Street in Point Loma meet his court-ordered January 2016 deadline to either complete construction on the unfinished mansion, dispose of the property or go to jail?
Those questions and more are being asked by residents near the home on 1676 Plum St. owned by Francisco Mendiola, which has been under construction for more than seven years.
“Mendiola is now facing a Jan. 7, 2016 deadline to either complete the residential construction to the City’s approval, sell the property to an unrelated third party or demolish the construction,” said neighbor Jerry Lohla, who’s been spearheading the legal effort to spur the property owner to act. “If none of those events happen by Jan. 7, Judge Rubin says Mr. Mendiola will go to jail.”
Lohla noted the next progress hearing in the Mendiola case is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. in Department 39 of Superior Court. A number of neighbors plan on attending the progress hearing, he said.
Lohla and other neighbors continue to remain skeptical that Mendiola will meet the court-imposed Jan. 7 deadline for his finally finishing the project, pointing to recent problems he had — and a deadline he missed — to put in a public sidewalk on the corner parcel.
“Plum Street, according to neighbors’ updates, is in lull, awaiting more interim deadlines with Judge (Rubin), supposedly skeptical he can meet his January final deadline,” said Don Sevrens, a member of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, speaking on his own behalf. “I am too, with the (Plum Street) roof pulled loose from the wall and sagging. He sort of met the deadline on the sidewalk — but sort of did not — because it was substandard, and major sections had to be torn out and replaced.”
City spokesman Gerry Braun confirmed that the sidewalk Mendiola was responsible for putting in originally failed a city inspection held Sept. 16.
“Mendiola finally completed the public sidewalks and curbs on Plum and Lowell streets that he had illegally removed seven years ago,” said Lohla. “He was past the Court’s deadline for completion by about one month because he constructed the sidewalks and curbs three times (and had to demolish his work the first two attempts) before he finally received approval by the City.”
Lohla said Rubin ordered Mendiola to “reimburse the City $1,400 for city staff’s time inspecting his work multiple times.”
Lohla pointed out that Mendiola’s construction lender is J. P. Morgan Chase Bank.
“In the event that Chase Bank forecloses on Mendiola, or if Mendiola gives Chase Bank the deed in lieu of foreclosure, our next step is to persuade Chase Bank that it would be in the community’s best interest, and in Chase Bank’s public relations interest, to immediately demolish the incomplete construction and sell the site rather than ask the City for still more time to complete the construction of this monstrosity in our midst,” Lohla concluded.
Jon Linney, another planning board member speaking on his own behalf, said Mendiola “deserves the opportunity to do so (complete the house) without interference from the public. Some fear that he is gaming the judicial system and will not even come close to meeting his deadline. If that happens, he should be punished accordingly and not given further extensions.”
Linney pointed out that “perpetual” remodels like Mendiola’s “cause economic harm to the law-abiding, taxpaying neighbors who see their own property values diminished. Can you imagine living next door on Plum Street and trying to list and sell your home for anywhere near its true value?”
Arguing that the “slow-moving court system cannot possibly keep up with these abuses on a case-by-case basis,” Linney iterated his call to the mayor’s, city attorney’s and District 2 council offices to work with Point Lomans to “draft a stronger policy to prevent future abuses. As a community activist who has lived on Plum Street and has reached out to the neighbors, I am willing to give of my time and energy toward achieving such a solution.”