CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
October 5, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Scott, City Manager
Submitted By: Betty Donavanik, Development Services Director SUBJECT: AUTHORIZE CITY ATTORNEY TO INITIATE A CIVIL NUISANCE ABATEMENT AND IF NECESSARY, SEEK APPOINTMENT OF A RECEIVER FOR THE V RED GAS STATION PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2295 NORTH GAREY AVENUE RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Authorize the City Attorney to initiate a civil nuisance abatement action concerning the V Red Gas Station property located at 2295 North Garey Avenue (the “Property"), and seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring the owner and other responsible persons to correct the violations and maintain the Property in compliance with applicable law; and Authorize the City Attorney to seek appointment of a receiver, if necessary, to secure, preserve, rehabilitate, maintain, or otherwise bring the Property into compliance; and Authorize the City Attorney and City Manager, or their designees, to take all actions reasonably necessary to carry out these directions.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The V Red Gas Station located at 2295 N. Garey Avenue (“Property”) closed for business and has been vacant since mid-2024. Since the closing of the business, the convenience store and auto repair buildings have had multiple break-ins, resulting in structure fires. Although the structures have been boarded up and the Property has perimeter fencing, trespassers have still been able to enter the site. The City’s Code Compliance Division has issued a total of 35 citations with an outstanding balance of $51,957 which includes unpaid citations and City’s abatement costs to secure the Property. The Property remains a public nuisance and a threat to public health and safety.
This action would allow the City Attorney to initiate a civil nuisance abatement action and seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring the owner and other responsible persons to correct the violations and maintain the Property in compliance with applicable law. The action also authorizes the City Attorney to seek appointment of a receiver, if necessary, to secure, preserve, rehabilitate, maintain, or otherwise bring the Property into compliance.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☒ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $500 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $500 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City will incur attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses associated with the nuisance abatement action. The total cost is estimated to be approximately $50,000 but may be greater or less.
The City has an account for settlements and restitutions (Restitution Settlement Revenue FD101-CC1740-45000-RC083) that is funded by payments made by businesses/property owners through settlement agreements for nuisance abatement cases. The most recent payment the City received was for the three Holt Avenue motel abatement cases. Through the settlement agreements, the three motels paid the City a total of $35,807 for attorney fees, staff time, and the City’s costs to abate the properties. Once all fees are incurred and payments are made from this respective settlement, staff will request an amendment to the budget as part of the FY 2026-27 General Fund Mid-Year update in March 2027.
This Restitution Settlement fund will be used for the upfront costs associated with the V Red nuisance abatement action. Similar to the motel abatement cases, the City Attorney will seek recovery of its enforcement, abatement, and litigation costs to the extent permitted by law. The V Red settlement payment will be deposited to the Restitution Settlement nuisance abatement fund for future nuisance abatement actions.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
No City Council-related previous action.
BACKGROUND:
The Property is owned by Royal Express Delivery, Inc. (“Owner”). There are two Deeds of Trust held by Golden Bank. The Property contains unfinished commercial structures (a convenience store and an auto repair building). The Owner obtained permits to construct a convenience store but did not complete the work. The Property also contains openings left after underground fuel tanks were removed and not backfilled. Because the structure and exterior fence have repeatedly remained unsecured, the City has performed five summary abatements to secure the site.
On September 15, 2024, the City received an online complaint concerning trash, unmaintained landscaping, and partial construction at the Property. A second complaint followed on October 30, 2024. During the October inspection, Code Compliance Inspector (“Inspector”) observed trash, debris, a discarded sign, weeds, damaged fencing, discarded furniture, and graffiti.
On November 7, 2024, the City mailed a correction notice to the property owner, Ivan Molchanov, by certified mail. The Inspector conducted a follow-up inspection on November 26, 2024, and issued a citation. The City ultimately issued five citations to Mr. Molchanov during this stage of enforcement, but the violations continued.
On March 27, 2025, the Inspector identified Sergey Vershinin through Secretary of State records as an additional responsible person associated with the Property. On March 28, 2025, the Inspector cited Mr. Vershinin for the maintenance violations and issued a separate correction notice addressing graffiti.
The Inspector spoke with Mr. Molchanov on June 5, 2025, described the Property's condition, and recommended additional security measures, including a No Trespass authorization with the Pomona Police Department. On June 25, 2025, the City issued another correction notice requiring the Property to be registered with the City as a Vacant Property requiring a local property-maintenance contact to remain available for cleanups. The Vacant Property registration remains incomplete.
The City later issued 14 additional citations, for a total of 19 citations in the current Code Compliance Case. The City has also conducted five summary abatements to secure the structure and exterior fence. The unpaid balance for those abatements is $2,397. Across the Property's recent enforcement history, the City has issued 35 citations, and a separate outstanding balance of $51,957 remains unpaid.
During the most recent inspection on April 28, 2026, the Inspector observed weeds and overgrown vegetation in the front planters, graffiti, junk, trash, and debris throughout the Property. The conditions therefore remain as a public nuisance despite repeated notices, citations, communications, and City abatements. A Notice and Order to Repair or Abate was issued to the Owner on December 3, 2025, requiring the violations to be corrected by December 31, 2025.
On May 21, 2026, a trespasser broke into the vacant building and started a fire. LA County Fire Department responded quickly and extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported.
On September 2, 2026, the City Attorney’s Office mailed a Notice of Intention to File a Lawsuit to the Owner and the Lender; the Notice was also posted at the Property (Attachment No. 1). On or about September 9, 2026, a representative of the Lender explained the Owner has been in bankruptcy. However, the Bankruptcy was scheduled to be dismissed on September 15, 2026 and thereafter, the Lender would proceed with foreclosure, and if a creditor bids on the Property it would correct the violations. The City Attorney’s Office confirmed that the bankruptcy was dismissed on September 15, 2026, but that a sale date for the potential foreclosure had not yet been set. Photos of the Property are provided in Attachment No. 2.
DISCUSSION:
The City's administrative enforcement has not resulted in lasting compliance. The Property remains unsecured and affected by trespassing, recurring trash, debris, graffiti, overgrown vegetation, and incomplete construction. The unfilled tank-removal openings and repeated need to secure the structure and fence also create continuing safety concerns. In its current condition, the Property is an immediate threat to the health and safety of the public. Additional citations alone are unlikely to result in compliance because the Owner seems uninterested in maintaining the Property. Moreover, while the Lender has pledged to foreclose on the Property, there is no guarantee that the foreclosure sale date will be set or will not continue to be postponed once set.
A civil nuisance abatement action would allow the City to seek an enforceable court order requiring the responsible parties to correct the violations and maintain the Property in compliance with the Pomona City Code. Court supervision would also provide a basis for further relief if the responsible parties fail to comply.
If an injunction does not produce prompt and lasting compliance, the City Attorney should be authorized to request appointment of a receiver through the same Court action. Subject to the Court's order, a receiver can take control of the Property, secure and maintain it, and oversee work necessary to correct the violations, or sell it as-is and oversee the work necessary to correct the violations. Staff therefore recommends that the City Council authorize receivership as an available remedy if injunctive relief does not produce compliance.
The recommended action gives the City Attorney flexibility to pursue injunctive relief first and seek a receiver if the owner and other responsible persons do not comply or if stronger court-supervised control becomes necessary. This approach is warranted by the duration of the violations, the number of prior enforcement actions, the recurring need for City abatements, and the continuing public nuisance condition of the Property.
Underground Storage Tanks
In October 2021, the California State Water Resources Control Board (“CA Water Board”) issued a notice to Royal Express Delivery to remove the existing underground storage tank (UST) system located at the facility because they are constructed with single-walled components. Single-walled UST systems consist of either the tank or piping that does not have secondary containment and continuous interstitial leak detection meeting the requirements of Health & Safety Code (“HSC”), Section 25291(a)(1)-(6).
UST systems with single-walled tanks and/or single-walled piping are required to be permanently closed in accordance with HSC, Chapter 6.7, Section 25292.05 by December 31, 2025.
Owners/operators of single-walled UST systems are asked to submit a UST Closure Commitment Plan to the CA Water Board that provides details about the permanent closure of their single-walled USTs.
In January 2026, a building permit was issued for the demolition of concrete and asphalt for the removal of the USTs and fuel piping. The permit included the requirement to backfill the holes where the USTs were removed.
The CA Water Board assigned the case to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA Water Board) as the public agency with primary responsibility for the protection of groundwater and surface water quality for all beneficial uses within the Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is assigned to conduct inspections of UST removals and submits the reports to the LA Water Board.
In April 2026, LA County Public Works submitted the Underground Storage Tank Removal Report to LA Water Boards for the Property. The Report stated that on December 30, 2025, three 10,000-gallon gasoline USTs, five product dispensers, and associated product piping were removed from the Property. A total of 18 soil samples were collected from beneath the removed USTs, under-dispenser containers (UDCs), and pipelines. All soil samples were below their respective industrial/commercial San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Environmental Screening Levels.
Based on the Report, the LA Water Board determined that residual concentrations of fuel constituents pose a low threat to human health and the environment. Therefore, remediation is not required at this time, and the LA Water Board closed the case. However, the Report indicates that there may be residual concentrations of pollutants in soil that could pose an unacceptable risk as a result of future construction/redevelopment activities, and/or change to a more sensitive land use from commercial use. Responsible parties, landowners, and contractors performing subsurface activities at the site should be prepared to manage properly to avoid threats to human health or the environment. The City will put a hold on the Property requiring further investigation if the gas station were to reopen or if the Property redevelops.
Although the case was closed by the Water Board, the holes remain open and the concrete rubble remains on the site. Therefore, a final inspection was not conducted and the building permit remains open. There is an active hold on the permit due to the incomplete work.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES & GOALS:
This item supports the FY 2026-2027 City Council Priority 1: Strengthening Quality of Life and Community Safety, Goal D: Enhance Cleanliness and Neighborhood Aesthetics and Goal F: Improve Coordination with Businesses to Mitigate Neighborhood Impacts.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Attorney to initiate a civil nuisance abatement action on the Property and seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring the owner and other responsible persons to correct the violations and maintain the Property in compliance with applicable laws; and authorize the City Attorney to seek appointment of a receiver, if necessary, to secure, preserve, rehabilitate, maintain, or otherwise bring the Property into compliance.
Prepared by:
Betty Donavanik
Development Services Director
Charisse Smith
Director of Civil Code Enforcement
Best, Best & Krieger LLP
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment No. 1 – Notice of Intent to File Lawsuit and Receivership Petition and Notice to Abate Attachment No. 2 – Property Photographs
2295 N. Garey Ave. V Red Gas Station Nuisance Abatement
STAFF REPORT TEMPLATE!!!