Complaints against a large vacant lot in Oakland’s Fruitvale District are piling up, as are the mountains of trash piling up there.
The lot is located at 2783 E 12th St, right next to the busy intersection of E 12th St and 29th Ave. Neighbors said the homeless have taken over the property.
They said the trash has been piling up there for the past two years. But it has gotten significantly worse in recent months as it has become inaccessible due to the amount of waste.
“There are one, two, three, four schools near this dump, and no one cares. This should be normal for us,” complained Diosa Diaz, a social worker and teacher at the International Community School. known as ICS Elementary.
CBS
There are approximately 1,000 children who attend the four schools and a nearby childcare center. The four schools are ICS, Think College Now (TCN Elementary), Latitude High School and Lazear Charter Academy.
“I feel extremely angry every day when I drive by here,” Diaz told CBS News Bay Area. “We have kids who walk by here every day to come to school.”
Diaz and the other schools told CBS News Bay Area they had to go into lockdown due to major fires and police activity on the vacant lot.
The Oakland Fire Department has extinguished several fires at the building in recent years. Fire officials said a large fire, likely caused by homeless people, destroyed one of the two buildings on the property in October 2023.
They said people live in the only building still standing.
“I’ve been getting reports that the school is on lockdown for X, Y reasons, so it’s concerning,” Karina Flores, a parent, told CBS News Bay Area.
Flores said she always worries about her child’s safety. Her five-year-old daughter goes to ICS and her three-year-old twin boys go to the childcare center next door.
“Me or my mom personally pick them up after (every day from school), get in the car and leave,” Flores said.
Educators and parents say the mountains of trash left on the lot are a reflection of what’s happening on East 12th Street. There are several large encampments on this one mile stretch between 29th Ave and 14th Ave.
Diaz said during a recent safety meeting between school officials and city officials that the city said they can’t do anything about it because it’s private property.
“It’s scary. I feel like we’re teaching and supporting children in an apocalyptic society,” Diaz said.
By phone, the owner of the property told CBS News Bay Area that he is involved in a lawsuit with his lender. He said the Alameda County Superior Court and the U.S. District Court in San Francisco had issued injunctions preventing him from entering or managing the property.
He was unable to send the court documents to CBS News Bay Area in time for review. But he said he is also angry and frustrated by the situation.
According to the owner, the legal dispute has been going on for several years.
In the meantime, students and teachers like Diaz are dealing with the consequences.
“I know the city is doing their best, but they have to do better,” Diaz said.
CBS News Bay Area reached out to the city Friday morning but did not hear back from them as of press time. We wanted to ask why we don’t clean up the property first and send the bill to the owner, as they routinely do with blighted properties.
While the legal dispute between the property owner and the lender complicates matters, neighbors say the city needs to do something about the mess, with no resolution in sight.
Da Lin
