A fire-damaged home on Watson Court in Concord has become a growing source of frustration for nearby residents, who say years of complaints and little visible progress have left the property in a state of neglect. The home was heavily damaged in a fire on March 12, 2019. According to information shared by a Claycord reader, the property has remained largely unchanged in the years since, despite repeated contacts with city officials and efforts to address the condition of the site.
Recent photographs show a house still under repair, with roofing materials left on top of the structure, boarded-up sections, piles of debris, overgrown weeds, and construction materials scattered across the front yard. Neighbors say work briefly resumed a few weeks ago when roofing activity began, but the project reportedly stopped after a day, leaving materials behind and no apparent signs of continued construction.
The reader, who requested anonymity, said residents have reportedly contacted the City of Concord multiple times over the years. According to the reader, city staff have addressed some concerns, but permitting requirements, building codes, and other regulatory issues have slowed any meaningful resolution. The home has become a point of concern for neighbors who say they are not necessarily demanding one specific outcome, but simply want to see movement – whether that means rebuilding the house, cleaning up the property, or pursuing another long-term solution.
I’ll bet the owner pocketed the insurance money and is attempting to do the
repairs in his spare time.
More likely, if the homeowner is elderly, living on low wage-earner Social Security, and the home has no mortgage…they cannot afford food, health insurance AND the ever increasing “replacement value” cost demands of an Insurance broker. Currently $4 or $5K per yr for a BASIC homeowner insurance plan in that area.
Fix it or sell it!
I sympathize with their plight like we have on our Court. The house next door to us has been vacant for 15+ years. Roof tiles missing, windows boarded up, 4 storage units, overgrown weeds and the water has been turned off, … plus more. City of Concord code enforcement won’t do anything. I just found out about 2 months ago, … going to be checking with Contra Costa County, code enforcement, ….925-655-2710.
Let’s see what happens.
Agree, Concord Code Enforcement is worthless and useless, just another example of a Government entity feeding at the Public Trough , collecting better Benefits than the average Citizen and offering No,Zero Benefits for the Community
They need to do a practice burn for Concord Fire Dept.
Squatters here we come!
The owner has a first amendment right to express themselves as they see fit.
.
Neighbors could ask the owner what they can do to help. For example, if you have room in your trash or yard waste container then work out an agreement to deal with a little bit each week.
Do criminals have a first amendment right to commit crimes?
p.s. Health and Safety codes, Fire hazards, attractive nuisance, building codes, fire codes…..
We have just as competent leadership as Los Angeles has! Look at the Palisades this the same but on a much smaller scale. Much like Los Angeles the leadership that has this county circling the toilet is actually the fecal waste that needs flushing!
How frustrating for the neighbors. None of us know what’s going. If you’ve been hanging out with the homeowner, feel free to post.
A family we know had their house badly fire damaged and did everything possible to move things along and it took 3 years to get back in. The criminals masquerading as insurance companies make it so unnecessarily painful, something needs to be done. There’s probably extenuating circumstances here, but it really sucks for the neighbors that have to look at it every day.
Growing up my Father would get neighbors together to help, when a
neighbor had problems. Guess folks these days can’t be bothered
with helping others or going to church on a regular basis.
.
An elderly neighbor with dry weeds in yard, knock on their door and
offer to cut weeds down for FREE, have done it several times. Usually
turns out they are alone, recovering from a fall and couldn’t afford
a gardener.
That is how it should be, people taking care of people that really need assistance.
Not public handouts of “my” Tax money going out to provide for illegals, doppers, drunks, and fat, or lazy people. The people getting these sorts of handout are living better than our elderly, who worked their whole life, and paid into Social Security. Our system is broken, and riddled with fraud.
Vote the color of your blood, if you want any chance at all of reversing the illegal laws, and crimes that the Democratic Party has shoved down our throat for yrs here in CA.
I do not believe that the Republican Party has all the answers, not even remotely, but in the past few decades it has been proven that the Democratic Party is not capable of running our State with our best interests in mind. In fact the Dem’s have completely destroyed CA, and have failed our State miserably, only to better their bank accounts, themselves, and illegals that vote to keep them in office.
Our system has failed us, it’s time to stand up against these slime bag politicians, to regain hope too our once amazing State.
If it doesn’t happen, I’m moving my family to a State that allows people to live by the standards set in the, and constitution, which is “supposedly” self evident .
{self-evident: when it is so plainly and obviously true that it requires no external proof, argument, or further explanation to be understood”
God Bless America!!!
There is a lot missing to this story.
If they investigated this story it would show that the city is not the problem. It is interesting to hear all the speculation in the comments because they know nothing about the family sitauation that is part of the problem. If people knew he facts, they would see that the situation is a family tradegy.
Before placing blame know the facts.
Rick,
.
Then give us the facts.